We've Had Enough!
by Jasaiya Hawkins
Summary: Naruto and Gaara both are tired of life in their villages. So they both leave them and go to the Land of Snow, where they become the first official ninja there. NaruGaa friendship,a pairing for both of them in later chapters.Please enjoy this story.
1. Maybe

This story is dedicated to my friend Kuma in Pink, from this site. See, without her, there would not be this story at all. We talk on yahoo a lot and you'd be surprised what passes between us. Nothing bad, but really really random. This story will be a NaruGaa friendship and Naruto and Gaara will both get with someone though. Mwa ha ha ha ha!! Oh, Sasuke never ran off, btw. Also, the official rating of this story is T. But in some places, it may get a little more than T. Just a warning.

Chapter 1

"Naruto, what did you want to talk to me about?" Sakura asked as they walked away from everyone else around them. "You said it was important."

"Sakura, do you want to go on a date with me?" He asked her calmly.

"Naruto, you know what my answer will be. My heart is not with you. Just as much as you want to go out with me, I want to go out with Sasuke. I thought you understood that." Sakura said sternly. "It would never work out between us."

"But Sasuke will be better? He doesn't even pay attention, focused only on his revenge! That kind of guy isn't for one such as you. You need someone who will pay attention to you and give you his all. He could never do that." Naruto exclaimed loudly. Sakura looked ready to punch him.

"He's been hurt badly. That's why he needs someone like me to not give up on him." Even now, Sakura defended the revenge-crazed Uchiha. It made Naruto sick.

"And I haven't? That's just like a villager of Konoha, hating me for something I was never guilty of doing. What makes Sasuke and I different?" Naruto jammed his hands into his pocket angrily. "Can you tell me that?" Sakura remained silent. "Figured that. No one can see me for who I am! All they see is the Nine-tailed Fox! He's silent now. That fox has never caused trouble for anyone or myself. But everyone still thinks that I can just change so drastically so fast, that I'll kill everyone in the village. It's not fair!"

Sakura had never thought about it from Naruto's point of view. She had known for awhile now that the demon had been sealed into his body. But she had never thought that was why he was hated. Her eyes filled with compassion and pity. "Naruto." She said simply and touched his shoulder with one hand. "Is that why you did all those jokes when we were younger? Because everyone ignored you and that was the only way people would notice you?"

Naruto jerked away from her touch. "I don't need your pity. I don't need anyone's pity! All my life has been nothing but hell in this village." His eyes started to overflow and he brushed the tears away. "Hated and judged just for something that was never my fault, something that was out of my control. You and Sasuke are exactly the same! Condescending and vain, only thinking of your precious reputation, what you think you want, no matter what it takes to get there!" He began to walk away.

Sakura ran in front of him to stop him from leaving. "Naruto, wait. We can figure this out. Don't let it get you down." He walked around her.

"I don't know what I ever saw in you. Sasuke this, Sasuke that. That's all I ever hear. Even when that guy was completely useless and I saved you; it couldn't have possibly been me according to you. Only Sasuke is capable of doing that, at least according to you." Naruto ranted, pausing for breath. "And, right now, for all I care, you can run to him. You two are good for each other. Man, I'm so sick of life in this village!" He practically yelled and ran away.

"Naruto, wait!" Sakura exclaimed. But it was too late, Naruto was gone, going to only he knew where. "Naruto." She paused to think. "I'll talk to the Hokage! Maybe the Hokage can help him." With that thought in mind, she went to speak to the Hokage.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Naruto ran to his apartment, ignoring the strange looks he got from the hateful villagers. He vaguely heard someone call out his name with concern. It sounded like Hinata. But right now that didn't matter, even though she had been one of the few to actually be his friend and see the real him. "Later Hinata!" He called out loudly, not seeing if she answered.

By that time, he reached the now deserted park. By now, every other kid in Konoha was eating dinner with their family. And they wouldn't be allowed back tonight, since it was unsafe at night. Naruto had never had a family to eat meals with. Sure he had been taken care of, as an orphan with no family who had not been adopted yet. Someone had always made sure he had enough to eat or good clothes. And they even paid the rent for his single room apartment.

But the acts had not been done in love. They just dropped off the food, leaving him to cook for himself. And the clothes were given grudgingly, as if they were wasted on him. Now he was older though. They still paid the rent for him. But he had assumed the responsibility of buying his own food and clothes when he had finally become a genin, not that people acknowledged the fact that he had done good.

It made him sad to think that pretty much Hinata Hyuga was one of the few who truly cared about him as a person. She didn't deserve to be shoved away as he had shoved her away earlier. He was also sad that no one cared enough to make sure he got home at a regular time at night, to stop him from staying in the park at night. Sometimes he had even fallen asleep there, looking at the stars, staying there the whole night. No one had cared.

Naruto remembered the beatings he had sometimes gotten just for hanging around a place for more than a few minutes. During those beatings, he had been dragged somewhere private and beaten. As he been dragged away, mothers would shield their children from him, as if would suddenly lash out and try to hurt the kids.

"I'm not angry at the kids. I don't want to be angry at all! But what else can I do?" Footsteps hurried their way to the park and someone called out his name. It was one of the jounin by the sound of it.

"Naruto Uzamaki!" The voice called. Naruto remained silent. It was about time, Naruto thought, that the villagers accused him of a crime in order to get him in trouble. People all over the town were most likely looking for him, ready to arrest him at first site. "If you can hear me, Naruto, please come out. You aren't in trouble. We just want to talk to you." Naruto remained silent, despite the fact that someone may actually be worried about him.

The jounin left, leaving Naruto alone to his thought once more. "Maybe…maybe I should just leave now. Would anyone miss me?" He mused. Hinata would, he knew. And Gaara of the Sand would be concerned. But he was pretty sure that they were the only two. "Maybe I should leave. But where would I go?" He asked himself as he drifted into a sweet slumber.


	2. Plans

So, I've already gotten one review that said they loved my story. As my thanks to for that review, as it really made me happy that someone loves it so much, here is a reward. (Points behind while grinning, where Sakura is encased in sand by Gaara, who looks ready to kill, with a bright red target painted on her face, the middle point being on her nose). You said you wanted to hit her, so take your best shot!! Anyone else is free to take a shot at her as well.

Chapter 2

It was early morning, just barely after dawn, as Gaara made his way down the main road, thinking to himself quietly. He was taking a break from it all, as he had been getting fed up with his village as late. So he had decided to take a break and go to Konoha, wanting to see the person who had completely changed his life. He only hoped Naruto would be as happy to see him. Gaara and Naruto had been exchanging letters lately. But despite the fact that Gaara had written three times now, Naruto had not sent a return letter.

"Why is why I am going to make sure he's okay in person!" He said outloud to himself with a grin. And he knew he was just using this as an excuse to see his friend. Truthfully, he didn't really care if there was an excuse or not. He wanted to see his friend. It's not like the village would miss him, as they still hated him so much for something that wasn't even his fault. Heck, they were probably glad to be rid of him for awhile.

Konoha's high gates loomed into view and Gaara quickened his pace. He finally made it to the gates and stopped by the check point at the gate. "I'm Gaara of the Sand. I was told I would be welcome here." He told the guards. The guards checked something on a clipboard, giving him a good lookover.

"Understood. Welcome to Konoha, Gaara of the Sand. Enjoy your stay in Konoha." They said cheerfully. Gaara walked into the village and kept an eye out for a guy in a bright orange jumpsuit. He didn't see Naruto, but he did spot someone from his team. It could only be Sakura, judging from the bright pink hair.

"Excuse me, Sakura?" Gaara asked tentatively. Sakura looked up from where she was sitting with her head in her hands. Worry and regret filled her eyes, and she looked very distressed over something.

"Gaara! How are you doing? It sure is a surprise to see you here in Konoha!" She said with fake cheerfulness, trying to hide whatever was bothering her.

"Yeah, surprised me too. But Naruto hasn't answered my last three letters. I was worried and decided to check on him in person. Do you happen to know where he is?" Gaara asked politely, trying his best to smile. "I needed a break from my village anyway, so I decided to come here to see him." Sakura looked distressed again at the mention of Naruto's name.

"No one knows where he is." She said, depressed. "Naruto and I had a big argument yesterday. He ran and we have not been able to find him since." Gaara was shocked to hear this. His friend needed him more now than ever. "It's all my fault. I was so insensitive to his feelings. He could be dead for all we know. And it'll be my fault." Gaara patted her on the back awkwardly.

"I'll look for him on my own then. I'll see if I can find him, and if I can, get him to come back." Sakura looked relieved.

"Thank you. I would go with you but...he would probably run again." Gaara nodded his agreement.

"I'll start now. Thank you for telling me all of that." Gaara said and left Sakura alone to a blonde shinobi who had walked up to Sakura. He kept his eyes out for Naruto, wishing he could make a pile of sand and use that to fly over the village and get an aerial view. But that would cause a ruckus, which would delay him finding him his friend.

He made his way through the village and noticed a park. The park offered a lot of places to hide in. "I often hid in playgrounds like this. Maybe he is doing the same right now." He said softly and went into the park, looking in all the hiding places he could see. Gaara spotted an unusual shadow under a large slide and looked under it.

He was rewarded by seeing his friend sleeping under the slide. His eyes looked slightly puffy, as if he had been crying. He was also shivering. He had no jacket on and had, presumably, fallen asleep like that during the night. It had been really cold last night, one of the last cold nights of the fading winter season. "Naruto." He murmured softly, pulling off his his own long jacket and draped it over his sleeping friend.

He settled down to wait until Naruto woke up on his own, making sand castles and other shapes in the sand while waiting. He was in the midst of making a small model of a village, a combination of Suna and Konoha, when Naruto stirred, making the jacket fall to the ground. Gaara had to move earlier to have room for his sand building, and was now out of sight.

Naruto fingered the jacket lightly. "Who left this here? Crap, it's morning. If I get sick, I only have myself to blame for sleeping like this outside." As if on cue, he sneezed. Gaara walked into the view of his friend and smiled genuinely.

"Morning. Why did you fall asleep here?" Gaara asked teasingly. Naruto moved to get up. "Oh, and please watch my sand village. I've spent quite a bit of time working on it."

Naruto looked at the village Gaara had made and then to Gaara. "How long have you been here then?" He asked, handing back the coat.

"I've been in Konoha for around two hours now. I've been waiting for you to wake up for about an hour and a half of that time. I heard about the fight you had with Sakura. A lot of people are worried about you now." Gaara explained, putting his jacket near his giant gourd which held his sand.

"That wasn't my intention to fall asleep and worry them. But..I was tired." Naruto said shyly. Gaara sensed he meant more than just the physical tired, though he did looked both physically and emotionally drained.

"And you weren't feeling the need for sleep. What else was bothering you?" Gaara asked as he sat down next to Naruto. Naruto shrugged. "And don't say it's not important. As your friend, I won't let you." Naruto smiled as Gaara said the word friend. "You haven't answered my letters. That's why I came here to check up on you. It's not like you."

Naruto's face grew dark. "I never got them. Probably the villagers just showing how much they hate me again." He said darkly. "Do you really want to know what's bothering me?" Gaara nodded. "It's this place. I hate it. Everyone hates me just because of what I have inside of me. It's not my fault. I didn't do anything wrong. For the slightest thing I do to annoy them, I get beaten. You are one of the few that I can trust. And you are one of the few that see me as a person."

Gaara remained silent for a moment. "Why do you stay here then? Why don't you leave?" Gaara asked.

"I can't do it alone. I try to stay positive and happy, but lately, that just hasn't been working out. I need help. I don't want to go alone." Gaara could only hug his friend as he said this, feeling Naruto's wet tears hit his bare arms. "I don't like being alone."

Gaara pulled out of the hug and looked at his friend square in the eye. "Then don't do it alone. I also feel the need to leave my village. Let's change our life's for the better together." Naruto looked at Gaara with hopeful eyes. "We can shed our last names, be just Naruto and Gaara, brothers, and start a new life elsewhere."

"But what if we labeled missing nin? Where would we go? I want to leave, but how?" Naruto asked, ready to both panic and leave right this instant.

"I don't know where we'll go. But I doubt they'll label us missing nin. Remember, we're both hated by our villages. They won't miss us. And we don't know any of their military secrets. They don't have any ground to really do anything about it. And if they do, we will at least be together. We'll fight off anyone who tries to separate us."

Hope sparked in Naruto's eyes much brighter this time. "I can go pack right now. We'll swing by Suna, grab your stuff, and leave. I think I know where we might be welcome." Gaara smiled.

"And where would that be?" Gaara asked, grinning.

"It's a bit far. In the Land of Snow. Awhile back I went on a mission there and the princess wanted me to stay there and help her rebuild her country. She's probably still there, wanting me to stay there. I'll go there, say you're my friend. She may let us both stay." Gaara grinned wider.

"We have a plan of action. But what was your fight with Sakura about?" Gaara asked. Naruto summarized their fight quickly. By the end Gaara looked angry. "I'll hold my peace. But she is not in my good book right now."

"Let's go. I'll show you my apartment." The two jinchuuriki sped off across town, ignoring the calls of the ninja who had been searching for the blonde intensely. The biggest thing was when Sakura saw him and called his name. Naruto was unable to keep the pain and anger from his eyes, causing his expression to look like a glare. Sakura shrunk back hurt and they made it to Naruto's small apartment.

It was a bit messy. Naruto hadn't cleaned in a few days. But it didn't take long for him to grab his few belongings and stuff them into a bag. "You live mainly off ramen, Naruto?" Gaara asked as he looked in his pantry, most of which was filled with instant ramen. "How do you survive without other foods?" Naruto grinned.

"I eat other foods. But ramen is really quick and easy to make." Naruto answered with a wide grin. Gaara was just happy to see Naruto back to his old self finally. "I'm ready to go. It might be wise to go through the forest and get to the main road from there though. I doubt they'll let us leave without a fight otherwise."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Dude!! I love this story already! Everyone enjoyed taking a shot at Sakura? Sorry if you like her. I just can't stand her or Sasuke. Neither can Kuma in Pink.


	3. One Step Closer

Okay, I have been asked whether or not this story will have yaoi in it. And I will answer that now. I have nothing against it. Truly, I have read some great yaoi fics. But I can't write yaoi. I've tried. But I do like reading it. Both Naruto and Gaara will have an unusual pairing. But it won't be yaoi, since I can't write it. Sorry to the readers who are thinking this will have yaoi.

Chapter 3

The two jinchuuriki had safely made it through the forest and were now on the main road, about halfway to Suna. No signs of pursuit could be seen from Konoha, something Naruto was glad for. The only thing he regretted was leaving Hinata behind. She had been a true friend to him. But he also didn't want to rip her from her family. That's why he hadn't said goodbye, because he knew she would try to follow. Naruto only hoped she would understand his actions.

But on the other hand, both boys were in a great mood. They were in such a good mood because they knew they would soon be free from their "home" villages. They were looking forward to starting a new life, in a country far away, a country that had most likely never even heard of demons or jinchuuriki. They would be free to just be them.

"Hey, Naruto, maybe we should change our look soon." Gaara said out of the blue. Naruto gave him a questioning look. "Right now, everyone knows this as our ninja look. If we truly want to change on the inside, we should change our look on the outside as well." Naruto scrunched up his eyes as he thought, making Gaara laugh.

"We should wait until we get the Snow Country then. See what the fashions are up there so we don't look like complete idiots." Naruto suggested. Gaara shrugged, content to be happy with himself and what he looked like. Gaara had to admit, sadly, that even his life in Suna had been better than Naruto's in Konoha. At least his parentage was known and he was, if not respected, feared, so no one would dare mess with him. He also had his siblings there too, while Naruto had no known family.

"Does it matter? You always look like a complete idiot half the time anyway, no matter what you're wearing at the time." Gaara teased, making Naruto kindly scowl. "In Suna, I'll see to it that you get some more stuff. A least a few more sets of clothes that fit properly." Naruto looked at the clothes he was currently wearing. The pants, not his usual bright orange one's, had been replaced a pair of baggy navy blue ones. He wore a basic white shirt that was a bit too small. It still fit him but was kinda tight.

"I'll manage. I have always done so before." Naruto said in an offhand manner, a distant look in his eyes.

"Yes, you will. You'll deal with the new clothes that I give you in Suna. The time of your mistreatment has passed, as has mine. We're about to start living a new life." The two boys couldn't help but grin. Already they had started to refuse to let each other feel sorry for themselves, encouraging each other to start expecting a little kindness in life. For Naruto it was harder thing to imagine though. "Tell me about this princess who wanted you to stay there."

Naruto shrugged again. "Her name is Yukie Fujikaze. We met her when my team was assigned on a mission to protect her as she went home, against her will, I might add. Her producer wanted her to get home so she could reclaim her country. Well, after several failed attempts to run away, and a few hard fights, in which Sasuke and I got really beat up, she willingly took the throne. I even got her autograph. And despite her becoming the ruler of the country, she still acts. She changed a lot over the course of that mission." He laughed.

"It's because of you. Somehow you make the most unlikely people your friend. It took a lot to reach me. I'm who I am now thanks to you." Gaara explained. Naruto blushed. "Wow, we must have traveled fast. We're almost to Suna." Gaara pointed ahead and not even Naruto could miss the multi-leveled tall wall that surrounded the Sand Village. "Let me do the talking, ok?"

"Sure thing." Naruto said, wondering what time it was. Two people had come to meet them. It looked like Gaara's siblings, Temari and Kankuro.

"You're back sooner than expected. And you've brought Naruto!" Temari hugged him tightly."That's my thanks to you. My brother is totally a different person now thanks to you. He's so happy now. And it was you who caused that change."

"So I've heard." He managed to say, since Temari was hugging him tightly it was restricting his lungs.

"Let the guy breathe!" Kankuro said, pulling the two apart. "But really, thanks for everything you've done for us, especially Gaara. What are you two doing here? I never thought Naruto would leave Konoha if not on a mission, and he's not wearing his headband." Naruto had intentionally left that behind, since he was leaving his "home" village.

Gaara cut in. "We both need to wind down. So Naruto and I decided to vacation in the Snow Country for a little while. There's a friend there who should let us stay at her place. So he left his headband and stuff at home. We just came to get some of my stuff."

"I'll let you in Naruto. Enjoy your stay here until you leave for your vacation." Temari called out as she returned to the border patrol. "Kankuro, get them settled in!"

"Will do!" Kankuro replied. "Come on. Naruto, you can stay at our place for free while you're here. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask."

"Actually, he needs some new clothes and a few other things. I'll see to him, brother. You get back to Border Patrol. Baki might find out and you know how he reacts to distractions while on border patrol." Kankuro grimaced and relented, telling them he and Temari would be home later. Gaara smiled and led him through the busy streets of Suna. Naruto noticed that many of the people gave Gaara fearful glances and looked away hurriedly.

"Don't mind them. Let's just get to the house." Gaara said, making sure to keep Naruto near him. The last thing he needed was to find a lost Naruto in Suna's crowded streets. "It's not much further now." He fished out a key froma keyring in his pocket and unlocked the front door to a large.

He shut and locked the door. "They know I'm leaving. That's why they're going along with it. That was the key word there. When I said vacation, they know I'm leaving. But don't worry. They won't report to Konoha about where we're going." Naruto sighed in relief. The last thing they needed was to be stopped now. The villagers would pounce on the opportunity to see him dead if he was caught and put on trial for desertion.

"So will we stay here for a few days and then leave?" Naruto asked as he went upstairs with Gaara. He opened a door and they were apparently in Gaara's room. Gaara dropped his bag and gourd onto the floor and sank onto his bed.

"Yeah. Drop your bag right there. We'll relax this evening. We'll get your things tomorrow and make sure we're ready." Naruto put his small bag on the floor softly. "We should bathe before dinner. We are covered in dust and sand, which is not bad for me, considering my affinity with sand." He leaned over and threw some clothes to Naruto from his own dresser. "For now, wear those. We're about the same size. They should fit. And I'll let you take the first one."

That evening when Temari and Kankuro came home, Naruto and Gaara were just leaving the sauna. "You wouldn't think we would need one in the desert like this. But there one is!" Gaara was saying. Both boys looked they had a minor sunburn, Naruto more than Gaara. After they had bathed and eaten a light snack, they had gotten into the sauna.

"You looked like you were baked Naruto. First time in the sauna?" Naruto grinned at Temari's question. "So is Naruto leaving his village too?" Naruto nodded guiltily. "It's nothing to be ashamed of in your case, Naruto. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do." She walked into the kitchen and started pulling out cooking stuff. "I'm making dinner tonight." Gaara laughed.

"So not only will it be edible, it'll be good." He said, looking at Kankuro wickedly.

"I can cook just fine, thank you very much." He said defensively.

"You guys, behave!" Temari called from the kitchen. Gaara and Kankuro looked at each other mockingly. Naruto sat back down to enjoy the show of their usual family life. How he would love to have an active family like this one. Temari walked up behind him. "Maybe you'll find a special someone to enjoy a family with someday. It was obvious you didn't belong in Konoha." She wagged her cooking ladle at her brother's, who were wrestling around on the floor by now.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Two days later, Gaara and Naruto left Suna, after saying goodbye in secret to Temari and Kankuro, who said they might come visit some time. Naruto had a new bag on his back, a bit bigger than his old one. They had made plans to travel to a city a week away, where they would catch a boat to the the Land of Snow. They were a little closer to their new home, or at least they hoped they were a little closer to their new home.


	4. Seasick Jinchuuriki

Naruto was up on deck, enjoying the fresh air that the water and wind combined offered. They had been on the boat for two days now. Next time they traveled, he made a mental note to avoid boats at all costs.

Because the moment that the boat had started moving, Gaara had turned green, feeling ready to throw up at any time. He had immediatelly went below deck and laid down, doing his best to keep his mind occupied. Luckily the crew had plenty of sea sickness medicine in stock, knowing that they would be having some desert dwellers as customers soon.

Gaara had grown up in the desert, which meant very few, if any, large bodies of natural water. Boats were a totally foreign thing to him. And when Gaara had seen how much water they would be traveling on, he had instantly looked forward to traveling on it. That was, until the seasickness set in.

As Naruto reflected on this, Gaara made his way onto deck, somewhat unsteadily. "Gaara, are you sure you're up to this?" Naruto asked.

Gaara grunted as he leaned against the railing, his back to the water. "There's only so long I can stay cooped up. I need to feel the wind on my face. And besides, how will I get used to it if I don't deal with it?" Gaara grinned, his face a little pale.

"The journey is halfway over now. Soon we'll be off this boat. In the future, we'll avoid boat travel if you like. At least we have not been pursued. Maybe they just don't miss us after all." Naruto said, shrugging nonchalantly. "It doesn't really matter, now does it?" Gaara shook his head no, smiling.

"Who cares about them? We don't need them anymore." Gaara said seriously.

"Yeah. All we need is each other." Naruto confirmed just as seriously. "Hey, what's that?" Naruto asked, squinting into the distance. "People...walking on water?" Gaara confirmed this. As they got closer, they noticed that they were rogue ninja.

"I'm going to tell the captain this. Keep an eye on them." Naruto said as he ran off. "Hey, captain!" The captain of the ship turned his attention to the blonde shinobi. "We have rogue ninja approaching the ship. My friend and I are ninja, so we'll take care of them. But can you tell the passengers to go below deck for awhile while we take care of them?"

"Aye," the captain said. "Just try not to bloody up the decks. We just had them cleaned." The captain spoke over the intercom. "Aye, ladies and gents. We apparently have some scalawags seeking to cause us some trouble. A couple of kind ninja's have volunteered to take care of them. But until they're done, they would like to avoid casualties by you all going below deck for a little while. I'd like you to oblige them." The other customers murmured softly and went below deck.

"We don't have our weapons." Naruto said. Gaara shrugged.

"I have my sand. And surely you know some offensive techniques." Gaara said. Naruto nodded as the rogue ninja gathered on the deck.

"Just call the rest of the passengers back out and we'll go easy on you." One of them ordered, obviously the leader. "We outnumber you severely! Just give up." Both boys grinned wildly.

"That's not gonna happen." Naruto declared. "You ready, Gaara?"

"Yep. Are you?" Gaara asked.

"Believe it! I am ready. Let's go!" Both boys suddenly lashed out. Gaara called his sand out from his gourd and wielded it as a whip, using it to trip those who came near him. Once they were down, he covered their faces with sand until he felt them pass out through his sand. He easily took out half the rogue ninja this way. He looked to Naruto to see how he was doing. He was holding his own, charging multiple opponents at once with his shadow clones. But Gaara noticed that while he was holding his own the way he was, he could do little else.

Gaara took out some of them with his sand whip and Naruto was able to focus more on only a few opponents. _We'll have to fix that. He's not very well trained. _Gaara thought. _It looks like they taught him as little as possible. Did they want him to die in combat? _Gaara asked himself angrily. Not even the people in Suna had gone this low. Gaara finished off all but one of them.

The leader of the rogue nin was now backed into a corner. Gaara had his whip turned on him and Naruto had just summoned more clones. The leader looked around for his options and only saw one. He charged Naruto. With enough force to bend steel, both the leader of the rogue nin and Naruto hit the gate that let the passengers board the ship. The frail lock quickly gave under the pressure, sending both into the water. "Naruto!" Gaara yelled, running to the broken gate.

In the water, there was wild waves and ripples. It looked as if the two were sparring underwater. "Naruto, hold on!" He called and prepared to jump in after his friend, despite the fact that his sand had a chance of being rendered useless. He had never fought under water with his sand so he had no idea what would happen.

Naruto emerged at last. His hair was soaked down to his skin and Naruto was breathing heavily. "We're fine. Don't take the chance of ruining your sand." He said as he stood up on the water, dragging the unconscious rogue ninja leader with him. "What do we do with these guys?"

Gaara manipulated the sand to form a platform just above the water in front of his friend. "First you get on that. I'll bring you back onto the deck." Naruto stepped onto the sand platform, dragging his unconscious foe with him. As he stepped back onto the deck, he dumped the guy near his unconscious underlings.

A group of four people emerged. All four wore the normal clothes that the rest of the passengers wore but had on forehead protectors. "You're from the hidden Rain Village?" Gaara asked. One of the group, a very tall female, stepped up.

"My name Tiesha. And yes, we're a team from the hidden Rain village. We were assigned on a mission to capture these guys, as they're from our village. We want them back alive, so with your permission, we could take over guarding them and return with them to our country as soon as the boat docks." Tiesha said.

"Only four people," Naruto said, pausing to count the rogue ninja's, "to guard ten rogue ninja?" Naruto asked skeptically.

"We were ordered to have captured them by the time this boat docks." She explained. "We have back-up waiting for us."

"Ahh." Gaara stated simply. "We're sorry we took your job." The leader shrugged it off.

"As long as the mission is completed, it doesn't by who. Where are you two from and what mission are you on?" Tiesha asked as the rest of her team began to take the rogue ninja to a storage room below deck.

"I'm Gaara, from Suna. And the blonde is my friend Naruto, from Konoha. But we are only going on vacation and not on a mission. We just happened to spot them and wanted to see that no one got hurt." Naruto sneezed as he was introduced. "Go change into some dry clothes. You'll get sick otherwise." Naruto went below deck to their room without complaint. "If you'll excuse me, I would like to go check on my friend." He bowed politely and hurried after Naruto.

He knocked before entering their room. Entering the room and closing the door behind him, he came in time to see the many bruises on Naruto's back and chest. "You were hurt that bad?" Gaara asked, finding his first aid kit from among his things.

"Nah. The stupid guy only gave me two injuries." He pointed to a fresh bruise on his shoulder. "That's one of them." He spit and a tooth popped out. "He also knocked a tooth out with a strong right hook."

"Then what are all those bruises?" He asked Naruto doubtfully. "It's okay to admit you took a worse beating."

"Those aren't from the fight. About a week before you came to Konoha, the villagers decided to beat me for no good reason. That's from them." Gaara looked shocked at this. "They were a lot worse then. But I have a fast recovery rate, so the bruises are the only thing that remain now." The first aid kit fell from Gaara's hands.

"Why didn't you do anything?" Gaara demanded. Naruto shrugged.

"One, they were trying to get me to do that to get me into trouble. And two, fighting back would have only made it worse than it already was." Naruto fell into silence as he collapsed on his bed. "Man, that water was cold!" He said, trying to change the subject. Gaara decided to play along.

"Probably was. Winter is just now leaving. What you felt was the last vestiges of winter making itself known." He grinned and saw that Naruto had fallen asleep, his blanket still folded at the end of the bed. Gaara covered up his friend, afterwards laying down himself and falling asleep.


	5. Welcomed Home

Hee hee, a lot of people like the nice Gaara. See, what I find as the most fun in the world is taking the cold, emotionless characters and turning them into a nice guy, like I did with Gaara. I've also done this Kanda from D.Gray Man and am in process of turning Kyouya from Ouran High School Host Clun into a nice guy. It's such a blast doing so. On to the next chapter. Some people asked questions and so I will answer them in the story.

Chapter 5

Gaara was glad when they had gotten off the boat finally. True, while seasickness had gone away, he still wanted to be back on solid, unmoving ground once again. Gaara was ready to just run off the boat as soon as the gangplank was fully down. Finally, when the boat fully stopped, Gaara and Naruto were up on deck with all their stuff with them. But, sadly, they had to wait a minute longer. After Naruto had accidentally broken the gate, which the captain did not hold him responsible for, one of the crewman had made a temporary lock to keep it shut. So the crewman had to come out and undo it, as it was a very much improvised lock.

"Thank you two for what you did." The captain had said. "I'll be sure to replace that lock with something much stronger when I get to port. If it could break so easily, it's a safety hazard to my passengers."

Finally, the lock was undone and Gaara almost ran off the boat. Naruto followed more sedately, with the ninja from the hidden Rain village behind them, escorting the rogue ninja who had attacked the boat. "I'm glad to be off the boat." Gaara said thankfully, sitting down on a bench near the port. "I thought this was the land of snow Naruto. It's spring here."

"They must have succeeded then." Naruto explained. "It used to be snowy all year round. But they had some unfinished research that gave them spring for a short time. Yukie said she would finish that research to give all of her people spring. They must have normal weather now. Bet Yukie is loving that." Naruto said with a fond smile. I wonder how she's doing. Come to think of it, how will we even get in to see her?"

"True." Gaara conceded. "I doubt she just lets anyone in to see her. After all, she is the leader of her people."

"Look! There they are!" A familiar voice said. Naruto looked to see Yukie, ruler of this land, and a blonde girl with llight purple eyes approach them. The blonde girl was almost running to them.

"It's Shion! What's she doing away from the Demon Country? And Yukie herself came to meet us! Wow." Naruto half whispered.

"How did they know we were coming?" Gaara asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Shion has the ability to see into the future. She must have seen us here and came here to tell Yukie. Her visions are quite powerful. She actually foresaw my death." Naruto answered with a laugh.

"Then how come you're still alive?" Gaara inquired sarcastically. Naruto grinned. "You actually changed your own destiny?" Gaara asked. Naruto nodded with a smile. "If anyone could have done that, it would be you."

"I wasn't going to die just yet. At the time, I was still aiming to be the Hokage. But that, obviously, I have given up on. But it doesn't really matter now." Naruto admitted. Shion reached them and looked at Gaara curiously, a smile forming on her already radiant face. Gaara found himself being embarrassed by this and looked away.

"So you two came after all." Yukie said. "I was hoping you would change your some day. And you have. Welcome to the Land of Spring."

"Thank you. This is my friend Gaara. With your permission, we would both like to live here from now on. We, of course, will help out in whatever way we can." Naruto asked.

"You'll both be welcomed here gladly, as my country is still rebuilding itself. We could really use the help of you two. How about I treat you two to dinner? Or would you two like to rest first. You must be tired from your trip." Yukie said.

"We're fine. I'm gotten all the sleep I can for the time being. I'm an insomniac. I only sleep a couple of hours at a time. And Naruto is fully rested as well." Gaara replied, catching Shion smiling at him shyly.

"We'll go to my palace. There you'll have a first class meal. Shion also is living here now by the way. She said she had a vision and knew her place was here now. But enough." A carriage rolled up and the driver stepped down and opened the door for them all. "Is that all your stuff?" Yukie asked, seeing only their small bags.

"We packed lightly, Your Majesty." Gaara replied, allowing Shion and Yukie to get in first.

"In private, call me Yukie." She told them as everyone found their seats and the driver shut the door behind them. The carriage started to move. "We're all friends here." She informed them. "Now, Shion suggested to me that I prepare a place for you two. Do you want to share a place or have separate lodgings. I can arrange it either way."

The two boys looked at each other. Gaara answered for the both of them. "We'll share a place. We have decided to call each other brothers, despite the fact that we're both from completely different villages and not even related."

"I'll see to it that it is documented that way. Meaning you two will be legally brothers. That way no one can doubt. But your house is all ready now. After we eat, Shion and I will give you the tour. She handled all the decorating." Yukie explained.

"Shion, how long have you been here?" Naruto asked.

"For about a month now. Over a month ago, I had a vision that told me that my place was here. So I packed up and came here. I'm no longer the priestess of the Demon Country. I'm just Shion here. I've always wanted to be someone like that." She said with a bouncy tone of voice.

"It looks like all three wanted a fresh start from somewhere." Gaara mentioned.

"How are your villages handling you two leaving? Surely they didn't just let you leave." Shion asked.

"They don't even miss us. We left because of the pain we felt there. Everyone really hated us, except for a few people. They're probably celebrating us being gone just about now." Naruto said, a bit seriously. "Only Hinata probably really misses me." There was a note of sadness in his voice now.

"You'll see her again soon, Naruto. I've foreseen it. But that's all that I was able to see. I don't know the circumstances that will lead up to it. But it won't be because she's in trouble." The carriage jolted to a stop and the driver opened the door.

"We've arrived, Your Majesty." He said with a formal bow. He helped both of the ladies out. Naruto remembered the last time he had seen this castle. As he looked upon it, a messenger came running out of the door, a bird on his arm.

"This has arrived, Your Majesty." The messenger said. Naruto and Gaara both noticed the mark of Konoha and Suna on the scroll on it's back.

"It's from our villages. With your permission, Your Majesty, I'll read it." Naruto said. Yukie nodded permission and Naruto removed the missive from the bird's back. The bird was patient.

"Let the animal rest a few days and set it loose again after." Yukie ordered. The messenger nodded, bowed, and left. "What does it say?" Yukie asked.

"There's a group of ninja coming here. They want to talk to Gaara and me peacefully." Naruto answered. "They'll be here in five days."

"I'll allow it. But I will try to be there for you." Yukie said. Shion touched Gaara's shoulder.

"I'll also be there for you as well." Shion said. "It'll be fine. I promise."

Note:

So, here is the chapter. I'm going to update again soon. I just love this story.


	6. Plans for the Future

Naruto and Gaara had been in the Land of Spring, as it was no longer called the Land of Snow, for four days now. The ninja from both Suna and Konoha were due to arrive the next day. It was a meeting neither jinchuuriki was looking to. Because while they said they were coming in peace, they were still two ninja who had left their home villages without permission from their leader.

On the other hand, Shion had picked and decorated their home wonderfully. Gaara's room was all earth tones, something Gaara loved. It was a very natural room. Naruto on the other hand, had a room that was primarily black, blue, and bright orange. The walls were a blended blue. The curtains were a softer blue. The blanket, sheets, and pillowcases were black and orange. They had a desk in there, along with a comfy chair that had wheels on the bottom, along with a few other items that made them very comfortable. Both boys were very comfortable here.

That afternoon, Shion hunted both of the boys down and dragged them to one of the empty rooms in the house. A large dark sheet had been set up to hang from the ceiling, effectively dividing the room. "Gaara, you're on the far side of the room. Naruto, you're on this side. Yukie and I put together a new look for both of you. It'll help emphasize the fact that you are now new people. Go on. Try on the clothes!" Shion ordered, pushing them into the room and leaving.

"Shion can be very strong minded at times. We can at least try them on." Naruto confessed. Gaara, curious as well, went along with this. There was something about Shion that really put him in a good mood.

After a few minutes, Naruto poked his head out of the door and told Shion they were done. "Ooh! Let's see if Yukie and I did well! We spent several hours discussing what exactly we should do." Shion walked in as Gaara walked through to Naruto's side in the room. "It seems we did well."

Naruto had on black baggy cargo pants with huge pockets. A tight bright orange muscle shirt did not hide the fact that, despite him having put up no fight when he had been abused, he was very muscular. His impressive regeneration had made sure that he had no scars, so no scars were visible, let alone their. This was something Gaara found unusual, since Naruto had told him of some of the fights he had been in. He was very prone to serious injury that required hospitalization. And yet his entire body did not have one single scar on it.

Gaara had on flame red baggy pants. The only weapon he really used was his sand, which he had now a new, more stylish gourd for it. It was smaller and more flexible, but at the same time just as tough as his old one and allowed room for just as much as sand as he had previously. The new gourd went over a black regular t-shirt.

Shion handed them both a small box. Inside were new shoes. They were like some of the ninja shoes they had seen around on some people. They were like boots almost, except for the fact that their toes were able to seen. So just like their old ones except they went up a bit higher. Also, both pairs were black.

"So what do you two think? Naruto, we gave you big pockets to hold your kunai and shuriken. Easily accessible and also reinforced so the sharp points won't tear up your clothes." Shion explained. Both of the jinchuuriki's loved their new look's and they said so. "Oh, while I'm thinking about it!" Shion exclaimed suddenly. "Yukie would like to start up a ninja program here with you two's help. I don't really get why they call them hidden villages though. Everybody knows where they are."

"I don't think Gaara and I are in a position to. Due to some complications at our chuunin exams, neither of us were promoted to chuunin. We have the strength of chuunin. But we are still only genin ranked ninja." Naruto explained.

"Oh darn. Well, this country still wants one. Maybe after everything calms down, we can figure something out." Shion said.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

The next day, the ninja from Suna and Konoha arrived. Shion, who had foreseen when exactly they would arrive, enabled them to be ready to greet the ninja who had come from so far. They met in one of the formal meeting halls that the palace had. One side of the table had Yukie, who was representing her country, Shion, Naruto, and Gaara, both wearing their new look proudly. The other side of the table had nine people. From Konoha, five people had come. Ten-ten, Hinata, a jounin by the name of Yamato, Naruto's replacement on his team, a very pale guy named Sai, and a very bored looking Shikamaru. Naruto was glad to see Hinata once again, who looked just as happy to see him again.

And Gaara recognized every one of the sand ninja. Kankuro and Tamari, his own siblings, had come. Baki, the jounin instructor of the Sand Siblings, had joined the mission, as well as Matsuri, a ninja a little younger than Gaara. Gaara had always wondered why Matsuri had never been afraid of him, even going as far as to be his friend. Only after Gaara had been changed by Naruto had he begun to let her in though. He waved at Matsuri, who eagerly waved back.

"I would like to welcome all of you to my palace, not to mention my country. I know that tensions may get high today, but I would like to see, if at all possible, that nothing goes wrong or bad this day." Yukie said formally, dressed formally.

"We have no intentions of breaking the peace we have right now, Your Majesty." Yamato said. "If we had really wanted to cause trouble, we would have brought Sakura and Sasuke. The ninja of Konoha will cause no problems this day."

"You have my word that the Sand Ninja will also behave and not cause any problems. I am the Jounin team leader from Suna. My name is Baki." Baki said formally.

"That's good then. These three over here," Yukie said pointing to Naruto, Gaara, and Shion, "have also given me their word that they will not cause trouble if you don't. Now that we have that said, I would like to know the reason for this visit."

Yamato and Baki both began to speak at the same time. Baki motioned for Yamato to continue. "We understand why these two left. And both the Hokage and Kazekage have agreed that this was the best thing for them. If they want to ever visit or come back, they will be welcomed back properly either way. But they also have full permission to stay here if they so choose to."

"That's good. We are very happy here." Gaara mentioned.

"I have to second that. But I don't think nine people were required to come all this way just to say that." Naruto added. Baki laughed loudly.

"The reason for this large of a group is this: Both villages, Konoha and Suna, think that since you now have ninja residence, their skills shouldn't go to waste. If you would like, and you by no means have to do this, we could help you start your own ninja school and eventually have ninja in this world from the Land of Spring. It'd take awhile but it could be done. We would stay for awhile here, helping you get started. And when you are ready, we only watch from afar your growth." Baki said.

"We would very much like to start one. But Naruto and Gaara said they were not able to do so with their current level." Yukie told everyone assembled. "How would we go about it?"

"We can sit down and talk about the technical stuff later. But for now, I think we should let the younger ones catch up. Temari and Kankuro," Baki said, pointing at the two he had just mentioned, "are Gaara's siblings." Baki concluded. "They were very worried about their brother."

"And Hinata," Yamato said, pointing at Hinata, "has been very concerned about Naruto here."

"Hinata," Naruto began, "I'm sorry for worrying you. You are one of my only friends, up until I came here. I didn't want to cause you any problems with your family." Naruto said.

"Don't worry about it, Naruto. You probably thought I would have tried to join you. You were right. I would have tried to follow you had I known. After I saw you were gone, I was upset for awhile. But then I figured out you were only doing what was best for me. You were being a true friend." Hinata told Naruto, who was convinced that Hinata would never forgive him.

The younger generation was told they could leave if they wanted to. Shion, Hinata and Naruto left. The Sand Siblings all left, followed by Matsuri as well. Shikamaru stayed behind, as he would be the brains behind all of this. Sai had no desire to meet with the one he had replaced. And Ten-ten wanted to know what exactly she was going to do in detail, despite the fact she wanted to make sure Naruto was okay.

Ten-ten had, while not getting close to the blonde, had at least be courteous and polite to him, even though some of her family members had been among those who had actively hated him. She would get the chance to later. And if she went by how he looked, he appeared happier and healthier than he ever had in Konoha.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Hinata, Shion, Naruto, Matsuri, Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro all went to Naruto and Gaara's house. Gaara counted all of the people there. "So we'll need enough dinner for seven people." He noted, thinking about what he could fix that had enough but wouldn't take forever.

"Gaara, I could easily make something for all of us." Naruto said.

"I think they need something better than ramen every night." Gaara said jokingly.

"I can make other food than ramen!" Naruto exclaimed, causing the others a good laugh.

"I could help him cook Gaara. I love to cook!" Hinata offered. Naruto shook his head no at the offer.

"You're a guest Hinata. I couldn't let you do that." This time Hinata took the iniative.

"I really don't mind at all. We can catch up while we cook." Hinata said, dragging him to the kitchen. Gaara laughed at seeing his friend be dragged like that.

"You have no right to laugh Gaara!" Temari said strongly. "I see how you and Shion get along. I can tell you want her to drag you into the kitchen 'against your will' to cook together, and to do other stuff don't you?" Temari suggested furtively. Gaara blanched at this comment. "Now if only we could find someone for our dear Naruto. That's one thing he dearly is someone to love him for who he is."


	7. The Wheel Starts to Turn

Ten-ten and the others who had stayed behind at the meeting had joined those who had left after the meeting was adjouned. They stayed up until eleven. Had Baki and Yamato not come to collect them, they would have stayed up later. But all of them were being made to help out the next day, even Naruto and Gaara.

The next day they were looking for a prospective place for the school. If they could not find one, one would have to be built. Yukie had suggested an old building near the center of town. Upon close inspection, it was deemed suitable for the academy that would soon be there. But first a few things had to happen. Some of the place had fallen into disrepair. Gaara was sent to find a good carpenter. Ten-ten and Temari were sent to the palace for cleaning supplies, as the place was in desperate need of a good cleaning. Gaara, Temari, and Ten-ten arrived back at about the same time.

"Alright, we clean this building good and well!" Both jounins ordered. Only Shikamaru was excused from this, as he was the one who had to figure out everything they would need. Hinata was all too cheerful about this and encouraged all of them to do a good job, sometimes humming a cheerful little tune as she did everything that was asked of her without any complaint. Naruto went along without complaint. This had to be done sometimes.

Yukie and Shion stopped by around lunch time with lunch for everyone. Everyone gratefully took a break. Shion made sure to sit next to Gaara. Something about him just intrigued her. And Gaara seemed to be returning the affection Shion showered upon him.

"Alright, I'll be staying here to help." Shion informed them. Gaara brightened up when he heard this. They somehow finished cleaning the entire building in one day. The carpenter had inspected the building and would return the next day to begin the work.

That night, all the younger generation ninja hung out at Naruto's place. But two people were not there. Gaara and Shion weren't there. "Naruto," Temari said, "where's Gaara?"

"Out for a walk at the moment." Naruto answered with a grin on his face.

"And where's Shion?" Kankuro asked. Naruto grinned wider.

"Taking a walk." Naruto answered again coyly. "And before you ask, yes, they are together." Temari and Kankuro looked at each other smiling. "Those two were in quite a good mood this afternoon." Naruto said, his eyes closed as he lay down on the couch. He was in an unusual mood at the moment. He was enjoying it.

Which was when Shikamaru had to walk in, a thick stack of paper in his arms. At even intervals, they were separated into thick packets. He handed one to each of the ninja present. And when Naruto wouldn't take his, Shikamaru dropped it on his face. "Wake up!" He ordered. "I'm the only lazy bum ninja around here."

"What's this?" Naruto asked crossly. Shikamaru sighed and didn't answer. So Naruto flipped through it. It was plans for something. It looked like the plans and schedule for the ninja academy.

"We're only staying for awhile, to teach the kids the bare basics." Shikamaru explained. "After that, it'll be up to you and Gaara to continue this. Familiarize yourself with this packet. It'll be the guidelines for the first few years. Oh, and give this to Gaara." Shikamaru added, putting another packet next to Naruto.

Shikamaru had to leave, telling the other ninja that Baki and Yamato wanted them back at the palace for the night. That left Naruto alone for the night, giving him some time to read the packet in peace. They would start out with a class full of kids. This one class would be taught the basics and when they were promoted to genin, would train regularly and be assigned to missions around the country. Someone who was at least chuunin rank would always accompany them. Naruto and Gaara would get some intense training in, preparing them a bit more for the roles they were about to take on.

"So the next generation will have us as teachers. I wonder what they will turn out like." He read some memos at the back. "Hey! Temari and Kankuro will be staying her longer. As will Matsuri, all three to help out. And Hinata will ask for permission to stay awhile longer too from her father. That would be nice."

Reading some more of the memos, Naruto learned that Shion would help keep the school afloat after Shikamaru and the others left. They also had some potential ninja symbols for their headbands. Naruto liked the sun design better than the others. No respectable ninja should be forced to run with a flower symbol carved into their forehead protectors.

Gaara finally came back. "Shikamaru dropped this off for you." Naruto said, handing the extra packet to him. "Did you have a good time with Shion?"

"Yeah, we did. And this is from Yukie." Gaara said, handing him a box. Inside was a vest. A vest that looked strangely like...

"Chakra armor?" Naruto asked, doubting his own eyes.

"Yep. The latest kind available. This will help us stand up to enemies stronger than us until we get strong enough to be considered jounins." Gaara answered, showing Naruto his, which he had already put on.

"One thing to be warned about, Gaara." Naruto cautioned. He tapped the power source of the armor. "Don't let our two power sources come into contact."

"Why not?" Gaara asked.

Naruto only said one word, making a hand gesture that could only be that word. "Boom!" Naruto yelled, laughing. "I once saw these things smack into each other. They go boom and electricity shoots out everywhere. It didn't look fun." Gaara had to agree with that statement. That did not sound like something fun. Or something he wanted to experience.

"Hinata asked me to pass on a message. She asked me to tell you that her father gave her permission to stay here longer." Naruto grinned.

"Temari, Kankuro, and Matsuri are also staying longer as well. The first generation of ninja in this village are depending on us to see them through." Naruto told Gaara. "Say, how many rooms do we have in this house?" Gaara counted off on his fingers.

"Six, including ours. Why?" Gaara inquired.

"I was thinking that maybe we could all live here together. If you agreed to it that is."

"It would be a bit crowded. But lively. And that way, we can actually take care of everything that needs to be done here. We have two bathrooms in here as well. And we have three girls and three guys. One bathroom for each gender. We would also be in constant communication. And this house is also quite large." Gaara figured out. "I say we talk to the others who are staying and see what they think."

"Who knows. We may be able to be a happy family." Naruto said, his spirit and mind fully at ease.

Note:

I am hoping to be able fit some more action into the next chapter. I'm thinking Dotou or whatever Yukie's uncle's name is will be back causing some trouble. I'm not really sure yet. But I know it's only a matter of time before someone tells that this story is getting bored. The only problem I have with Dotou is his return and him causing trouble is done a lot. Wait, I may have just come up with something original. Crap, that also inspired a new Naruto story! I already have too many fanfics wanting to be written and not enough time to write them!


	8. Buildup to a Showdown

As you all know, I was unsure of what too do for the next chapter. After colloborating with my stepdad, who I swear is actually my 2nd bioligiocal father, I have come up with an awesome series of events. And this series of events will take more than one chapter to put up, so I have the material for the next few chapters. Sorry if y'all felt I rambled on last chapter. I felt very exasperated. The story that this story inspired has been put up now as well. Anyway, here it is. Finally!

Chapter 8

Temari and Kankuro decided to stay with Gaara and Naruto. They considered Naruto their brother now as well, and said it was only proper for family to live together. But Matsuri and Hinata didn't want to live in such a crowded place. They decided to move in together into a house Yukie had said they could have. For now, their utilities and rent were being paid for by the royals, as the job they were doing currently offered no income yet but eventually world.

Gaara and Shion had also spent a lot more time together. "Shion is amazing." Gaara commented one evening as Temari was cooking.

"We couldn't stand each other at first. We really did not mix at all. But we got over that eventually." Naruto replied with a life.

"Why does that not surprise me?" Gaara asked. "It was that way with us. We really wanted to beat the crap out of each other. And you and Yukie didn't mix very well at first but are now close. Really, did you make all your friends like this?" Naruto replied by sticking out his tongue immaturely at his fellow jinchuuriki. Gaara was currently sitting cross legged on the couch. Naruto was walking on the ceiling for some odd reason, channeling chakra through his currently bare feet.

Kankuro was messing around with his puppets outside, training with them. Or so they thought, as now led an upset looking Shion inside. "She said she really needed to talk to you two." He explained. "When I asked why, she said it was private." Kankuro went back outside. Gaara got up and Naruto jumped down to join them landing on his feet.

"We can go to one of our rooms if you like and we can talk." Naruto said at once. Gaara's room was closest so they went in there. Gaara sat down on his bed, Naruto flopped into a beanbag chair in the corner, and Shion sat on the windowsill. "What do you need to speak to us about?" Naruto asked.

Shion took a deep breath. "Three jinchuuriki like yourselves are on their way here. One is a young girl who lost control of her demon and is going berserk. Two are chasing after, trying to return her to normal, without success. I've seen this in a vision." She explained. "I asked Yukie to look more into this matter. We found out that many of the ninja villages want to see her dead. But the two trying to save her, since they are also jinchuuriki, are trying to save her."

"They are on their way here?" Gaara asked. Shion nodded.

"I think that those three are the reason you were meant to be here. The berserking demon would have come with or without you here. This way one life can be saved and you two can help a jinchuuriki. You two must feel compelled to save her from herself and her inner demon." Shion said plainly. Both Gaara and Naruto felt this way. "I've told Captain Yamato this. It seems he has a special ability to control the tailed beasts. If the demon can be made to stay still, he can return her to normal."

Both boys felt relieved to hear this. They both knew how it felt to have a demon in them. Gaara had even had his demon take over his own body at one time. And Naruto had come dangerously close to it as well. Gaara shuddered as he remembered when he had willingly let Shukaku, the one-tailed beast, take control. After that, he had vowed to never do that again. "Do you know what made her lose control?" Gaara asked hopefully. Shion shook her head no.

Gaara and Naruto sighed at the same time. "Well, bro," Gaara said, "it looks like we have our first mission here."

Naruto nodded. "Yep, looks like we're right. But we'll need help."

"The others are going to do what they can." Shion added. "But it'd be best to lure her out of the city and somewhere secluded. It's going to be one messy fight." Heavy footsteps came up the stairs and someone knocked.

"Uhmm, excuse me for interrupting." Someone said. Naruto identified the speaker as Hinata. "The queen would like to see you and Gaara, Naruto. She said A.S.A.P."

"Tell her we're coming." Naruto said and got up. "Shall we see what Yukie wants?" Gaara nodded and Shion joined them by the door. They all went to the palace, where the Yukie was waiting for them in a private meeting room. Naruto and Gaara announced themselves and entered the room. Yukie looked up as they entered, as did two people sitting near her. Both of them had the headband of the Hidden Cloud Village.

One of them was a young woman of about twenty years old. She had blonde, almost brown hair, with honey colored brown eyes. She wore a tight, form fitting black shirt, with black pants. Her eyes narrowed as she saw them and Naruto could have sworn she saw her eyes flash blue for a moment. "Greetings. My name is Yugito Nii." She said.

"And I am Kira Hachi." The other person said. This person was a man. He had short blonde hair with a goatee mustache. His eye color could not be seen due to his sunglasses. He wore black pants with a one armed white vest with pockets on them. White gauntlets with a black circle on the back of the hand and three thick, black stripes covered his lower arms.

Gaara and Naruto introduced themselves and sat down as Yugito began to speak. "We came here to seek you two's help. Kira and I are Jinchuuriki just like yourselves. A fellow jinchuuriki, a young girl named Kina, has lost control of the demon inside her and is currently rampaging. We were hoping you two would help us save her. Everyone else only wants to see her dead."

"Hey, you two," Kira asked, "what kind of tailed beasts do you have? I am the Ox-Cephalopod, the eight tales. Yugito is the two-tailed cat, also called Nibi. What about you two?"

"I have the nine-tailed fox, Kyuubi no Kitsune is what the people in the people in my former village called it." Naruto answered helpfully. Yugito and Kira looked impressed at this statement.

"And I have the one-tailed beast, Shukaku." Gaara put in. "We're both willing to help a fellow jinchuuriki. But we need more information." Yugito nodded at this.

"Kina has the six-tailed hawk sealed within her. She's an orphan from a very small ninja village, the Hidden Waterfall Village. We know she's coming here. But we don't know why." Kira explained. "We're determined to save her. The ninja villages are what condemned her to this fate. They sealed it in her at a young age. And when she could no longer be their living weapon for a short time due to injuries, the villagers in her home grew angry, hurting her emotionally. That's why she lost control. Can you two still help us?"

"Of course." Naruto said. "We will always help out fellow jinchuuriki. Shion, a friend of ours, has suggested we draw her out to a place outside of the city."

"That's all fine and well." Yugito said. "But how will we return her to normal, short of killing her?"

"A ninja from Konoha here has the ability to control the tailed beasts. If we can get her to stay still, he can return her to normal." Naruto said. "The other ninja from Suna and Konoha, who are here to help start a ninja school going, are going to help out if at all possible. I've never fought another tailed beast except Shukaku here. We became friends after that. So I don't know how to deal with this one." Yugito laughed.

"You two fought each other as tailed beasts and are friends now?" She asked incredously. Naruto and Gaara both smiled and nodded. "Now that's a story that I would like to hear someday."

"Technically, only Gaara was in his tailed-beast form. I only drew on the chakra of the nine-tailed fox and transformed my partner, who I was fighting with at the time, into the nine-tailed fox. My partner at the time was the giant toad Gamabunta. We were both beaten senseless eventually." Naruto said with a laugh. Kira laughed a lot at this.

"What a ways you two have come!" He exclaimed. "From enemies to almost brothers." Kira wiped a tear away from his eye.

"Naruto has an unusual gift." Gaara explained. "He can make anyone his friend. They may start out as enemies or rivals, but they will end up being friends. He changes them for the better somehow. I don't even think he's aware of what's he doing when he does it."

"I can assure you of that." Yukie swore. "When we first met, I hated him. And now here we are, not only very good friends, but close allies as well. He certainly does have a rare ability to change people for the better." Yugito and Kira exchanged looks.

"Maybe he can help Kina then." Yugito said. "Because of her past, she has no self-confidence and hates other people. She's on the path to her own destruction. She only let Kira and I get to know her because of the fact that we were all jinchuuriki. Could you please try to help her Naruto? I don't want to see her like this anymore. She's such a precious friend."

Naruto got a distracted look on his face. "I have a feeling he is already planning on that Yugito." Gaara answered. "If he can save me from myself, never giving up once, then he will most certainly able to save Kina from herself. And trust me, I was pretty bad off. I felt the need to kill people to feel alive. And for awhile, I did. He didn't give up on me. And I don't think he'll give up on Kina."

Naruto suddenly snapped back to himself, clenching his fist. "I swear on my way of the ninja that I'll save Kina! Both physically and emotionally. And I never break a promise once I make it." Naruto declared. Both Yukie and Gaara nodded to confirm this. Yugito found herself crying now.

"Oh, thank you!" She told Naruto thankfully. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

"No," Naruto said, "I probably don't. But even I can at least get a vague idea." He said with a smile.

Notes:

1: Kina is an OC. I don't know if there is a six tailed- beast who is a hawk. It's just that that number has been unused and a few jinchuuriki captured by Akatsuki in the manga are unknown what the animal was or how many tails it had. So here she is, folks.

2: Yugito Nii and Kira Hachi are NOT OC's. They have been revealed from the manga and I am using them in my story. I may have gotten their personalities wrong though. I have not read the manga, only done a little jinchuuriki research. So if I have offended anyone with this mistake, I'm truly sorry. That was not my intention.


	9. Making Plans

Ok, me not having read the manga and my naruto info sites not being kept up to speed, may have put some wrong info in the last chapter. Someone said the six tailed beast was a weasel. May be right, may be wrong. But just not to confuse anyone, mainly myself, I will keep the six-tails as a hawk. But I am sure that the eight tales is still an ox. I saw that at two sources. And when I saw Yugito's picture, it was a dark blonde. Someone pointed out these things in a review. I don't know who's right. I'm only going by my perceptions in this case. And to answer another question about when this takes place. It took awhile to figure it out but it takes place after part 1, but before part 2. Part 2 never happened in this fic. And Sasuke never left.

Chapter 9

"Come on Naruto, Gaara. No one can see us. Show us your jinchuuriki forms already!" Kira said for the third time that day. Naruto and Gaara had politely declined each time. "You should have at least some control of them by now."

Gaara looked mortified at the thought of willingly giving Shukaku control again. "No way." Gaara declared. "Shukaku is a blood thirsty killer. I won't let him out, since I can't control myself in that state." Naruto had to agree on that. He had gone a little further with his demon, but still was not confident in his ability to control the kyuubi.

"I have to agree with Gaara here. I can only control mine up to a certain point. And it's really easy to lose myself. Besides, I have never depended on the kyuubi before and I won't do it now." Naruto explained.

Yugito was familiar with many of the tailed-beasts. "Kira, drop it. When Shukaku comes out, he eats away at his host's personality. And after a certain point, I don't know when, the kyuubi's power begins to shorten the lifespan of his host. These two tailed-beasts are those that can seriously harm their host." Kira sighed in defeat. "And besides, we came here to plan our rescue of Kina."

They were in a field now. They had decided to lure Kina out here, well away from the city and from the vital heat generator that kept the Land of Spring as it was now. Here it would be a four-on-one match, all the contestants being jinchuuriki. Everyone else had agreed to be stand-by, focusing their attention on the school until they were needed, if they were needed. Only Captain Yamato would be present, as he was the one who would return Kina to normal. Kina only needed to be held down. And four strong ninja, especially jinchuuriki, would be enough for that.

"Captain Yamato said he would take our suggestion about where he could hide nearby, ready to do his thing. Where would be a good place?" Naruto prompted after an uncomfortable silence. "He said it takes a little while and he'll need some space." The four jinchuuriki looked around and they all saw the place at once.

It was a sheltered rock enclave that quickly opened up to open grass. "That place looks good." Yugito said. Gaara, Naruto, and Kira nodded in agreement. They returned to the city, stopping off at the school to see how they were doing. Shion was there again with a box in her hand. She ran to them and looked expectedly at Gaara and Naruto.

"Here." She said simply, handing them each a headband. It had a sun half hidden by a cloud on it. "These are the headbands that were decided on." She watched the two boys put them on, Naruto grinning. He felt like himself again, having on of them on.

Gaara put his on as well. Hinata and Matsuri ran over. Hinata pulled Naruto away as Matsuri pulled Gaara away, both saying excitedly that the school was finished and would open as soon as Kina was back to herself. Naruto and Gaara were being pulled into the building for a tour now. Yugito smiled as she saw this. This place had openly welcomed them here. At least a few people, she knew, had to know about what they had inside of them. She could tell Shion knew. And Yukie probably knew as well. Maybe, just maybe, Kina might be able to stay here. Helped and encouraged by two of her own kind, surrounded by people who would accept her for who she was, she could possibly heal. It would take some work, but it was at least possible now.

Note:

I hate myself for making this such a short chapter. But I'm just not feeling anything for this chapter. The next chapter should have so much action and it will most likely be long. Forgive me for this. -bows repeatedly-


	10. The Fight Starts

OK, based on the picture I saw of the eight-tailed beasts, I am not sure if has the body of an ox with eight tails, or a kind of snakish body. I will describe it as best as I can. So I'm sorry if I get wrong. And I'm sorry. I can't bring myself to type the way he raps. I'm reading the manga chapters with him in it for research. And I can't do it. Also, Naruto will still know the jutsu's knew. Such as summoning and stuff, as he needs the offensive power. He just learned them at different at different places and times.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Oi, Naruto!" Gaara said loudly one morning as he walked into Naruto's room. Naruto didn't wake up from his deep slumber, his only response being him mumbling something about five more minutes. Sighing, Gaara walked over to his friend's bed and pulled one of the pillow's from under Naruto's head and smacking the still slumbering blonde with it over his head. Naruto shot up from his slumber ready to curse. "Come on, get up. Kina's been sighted. She's on her way here. Everyone who will help with the rescue effort are gearing up now and preparing to lure her out."

Naruto instantly came fully awake at these words and he got up with a purpose. He quickly got dressed, making sure to put on his chakra armor. Gaara was already to go. Naruto quickly finished putting his headband on. "I'm ready to go. I'll grab something to eat on the way."

"Already have that prepared." Gaara mentioned as they both walked downstairs. He handed Naruto some muffins and a can of juice. "We'll eat on the way. We're meeting in the center of town." Naruto nodded, as he could not talk to due to his currently full mouth. Gulping to swallow his food, he opened his juice and took a swig of the juice.

"Alright, we'll have a new friend by the end of the day!" Naruto said, already pumped up at the thought of saving her. "I just hope the medical squads will be ready. There's bound to be some major injuries when we're done."

"Yukie had said that they'll be on standby. They'll be waiting for Yamato to contact them." Gaara said, walking faster to keep up with Naruto's increased walking pace.

Kira and Yugito greeted them as Gaara and Naruto approached. Yamato was waiting nearby as well. "Thanks again for helping Kina." Yugito said. Kira also nodded his thanks.

"It's only natural. I'm sure Kina would also do the same if she knew another one of her kind were in trouble." Gaara said.

A loud screeching sound fill the air. Everyone looked up at the sky. A very large golden hawk was flying into the sky. It was heading straight for Naruto, Gaara, Yugito, Kira, and Yamato. "The plans starts now." Yamato noted, starting to run to the area where the fight was supposed to take place. Everyone quickly followed his example, avoiding areas where there were too many people.

The giant hawk screeched again. Nobody could miss the loud crackling of electricity. Gaara saw the other shinobi in town run out, herding the civilians out of harm's way as Gaara's group ran through the town, luring the out of control jinchuuriki outside the city limits. Yugito was slowly changing as she ran. By the time they all reached the field, an equally large sapphire blue cat with black swirls. Naruto found it hard to believe that the cat's coat was made of chakra. The cat's huge head turned to look at her allies, eyes glowing gold. "So what do you think?" Yugito asked. Kira shook his head.

"She got's nothing on me." He bragged, beginning his own transformation. He grew eight tails. But these tails had puckers on them, like those of an octopus, yellow chakra encasing his body. "I'm going full form here. Watch out, I take up some up some room!" A minute later, he was in the form of a giant ox, still having the puckered tails.

"Wow..." Naruto said in awe.

"Would you pay attention?!" Yamato demanded from his hiding place. "Kina's moving in for the attack!"

Kina charged in. She had the form of a large, golden hawk. But her body could vaguely be seen through the golden chakra. She looked as if she was asleep. Naruto made some hand signs. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" He bit hit his thumb, drawing blood, and slammed his hand onto the ground. A second a huge puff of smoke later, Naruto stood on the head of Gamabunta, the current leader of the Toads.

"You just love summoning me into dangerous situations." Gamabunta complained, exhaling smoke from his pipe. "Very well, I shall help you in this battle. We should do what we did last time." Naruto nodded and another puff of smoke later, Gamabunta the toad was gone. In his place was Gamabunta in the form of the nine-tailed fox.

Yugito made the first move. She shot a ball of spectral red energy at her friend. Kina screeched and pulled up. Kira lashed out at her with one of his many tails. She barely dodged it and spun around, opening her beak wide and letting loose a line of lightning. Everyone dodged it and Gamabunta jumped and took a swipe at Kina, trying to disable her wings.

"Naruto, move!" Gaara ordered. Gamabunta backed off as Kina shot another line of lightning at Naruto. It hit Naruto in the chest and he fell off Gamabunta's back. As he fell, red chakra surrounded Naruto's body. He opened his eyes. Yugito's eyes went wide. Naruto's eyes were slitted now, red in color, and outlined in black. A tail was forming too, bringing with it sharp claws and fangs.

Naruto used his chakra to slow his fall, landing on all four limbs. Gaara manipulated his sand, somehow managing to catch the hawk's talon in his sand. Gaara grunted as Kina tried to fight her way out of it. She screeched woefully. "Naruto..do..it..now!" Gaara gasped in between grunts.


	11. The Fight Starts, Part II

So, sorry this took awhile. I wanted to get to the point where both of my Naruto stories had the same amount of chapters. And both have at least 10 chapters now. We'll continue on with the next chapter now.

Chapter 11

A second tail appeared as Naruto struggled to hold Kina down, Kina screeching in his ear the whole time. This was giving him a huge headache too. "Come on, we're only trying to help you. Stop fighting us Kina. Kira and Yugito are both worried sick about you!"

Kina's only response was to send lightning through her entire body, electrocuting Naruto. He was forced to let go and with the flap of a wing, he was sent flying across the field. Naruto grunted, his body almost completely numb. He felt his muscles contract painfully and he yelled out incoherently. Kina flew back into the air and attempted to dive bomb Naruto, who was still struggling to regain control of his body.

Kira, however, came out of nowhere and wrapped a tentacle around the bird's neck. Yugito shot a blue ball of ephemeral fire from her mouth, hitting Kina in the back. Kina wrested her way out of the tentacle's grip and turned to the giant sapphire cat, letting out another high pitched screech. As Kira and Yugito held Kina at bay, Gaara pulled Naruto to his feet.

"Naruto, are you okay?" He asked. Naruto nodded, going onto hands and feet now. Gaara backed off and left some room for Naruto to move.

"I'm fine." Naruto stated roughly, his voice sounding a little rougher than normal. "I don't care what I have to do. Kina will be saved!" With that statement loudly declared, Naruto ran and jumped into the air, landing on Kina's back and digging in with his claws into her back to stabilize himself. Kina bucked to and fro in her attempt to dislodge the annoyance on her back.

More lightning ran through her body. Instead of letting go, which was her goal, to get him to let go, he fortified the kyuubi's chakra around his own body. With that acting as insulation, he pushed her body down closer to the ground. Kina's wing started to retract and they started to plummet toward's the earth faster. They hit the ground and Kina screeched again, a sound which was becoming very annoying to Naruto's heightened hearing.

Naruto himself went rolling and he managed to catch his breathe. Gaara compacted the sandy soil around Kina's talons and made it harden, keeping her in place. Despite this, she still started to crack the hardened sand, slowly freeing herself. Yugito shot more of her ephemeral balls of fire, which finished the job of freeing her, but sent her hard onto the ground as well. The out of control jinchuuriki got back onto her feet quickly.

And Kina did something that reminded him of his old teammate Sasuke. Kina made a ball of lightning shoot out of her mouth, sending it Kira's way, who was now attempting to use a few of his tentacles to keep her still. Kira was forced to instead use those tails to block the lightning. Naruto got back on all fours and a loud, angry voice emanated from within his mind.

**We tailed-beasts are gods and you still attempt to imprison me? **The angry voice questioned. **Let me out! Give me free reign of my abilities again!**

"No!" Naruto replied, just as angrily. "You having full reign of your power means that my life will be over quickly. After I die, what will you do? We'll both die if you do that!"

**I am the Nine Tailed Fox, the most supreme of the nine tailed beasts, not anything like the weak minded one-tailed Shukaku! I will not die! I will free myself from this hellish prison and leave you behind! **

"No. Either way, whether we use too much of our abilities, or you free yourself, it will still result in my death. I won't go down without a fight, believe it!" Naruto declared. Pain shot through his body as demon and host struggled for control. "I won't let you take control." Naruto swore. "And I never go back on my word!" Naruto yelled.

_This is getting bad. _Gaara thought. _If something doesn't change soon, we'll have two jinchuuriki berserking, not the original one. _Gaara also remembered Yugito's words, when Kira had been begging them to show their jinchuuriki forms.

_"Kira, drop it. When Shukaku comes out, he eats away at his host's personality. And after a certain point, I don't know when, the kyuubi's power begins to shorten the lifespan of his host. These two tailed-beasts are those that can seriously harm their host."_Those were the words that Yugito had spoken to make Kira drop the subject.

_If Naruto keeps this up, his very life will be in danger. _Gaara realized that if this wasn't stopped, and stopped soon, not only would their be serious injuries, there would be a dead body on the ground.

"Captain Yamato!" Gaara yelled. Yamato poked out his head to show that he had heard. "Call for back-up! We need more people here, otherwise, this will all end badly." Yamato nodded and withdrew his head as a stray ball of lightning, one that greatly resembled Hatake Kakashi's chidori, nearly took his head off.

Gaara looked back to his companions. "Naruto will be losing control of himself any time now. I'll deal with him, you two stop Kina." Kira swore loudly at this but had no choice but to defend himself as Kina attempted to dive bomb him from above. Yugito also shot a worried glance Naruto and Gaara's way.

**Just give up already! **The demon fox ordered. **It'll be over quickly. I'll even finish the job of destroying Konoha, and kill all the ones who hurt you, who hurt me. **Naruto gritted his teeth but couldn't stop the third tail from forming. His foxish features became even more pronounced now, his voice guttural.

"I won't let you." Naruto swore. "They may have hurt us both, but that does not give us the right to hurt them back! That makes us as bad as them!"

**That may pose a problem for you, but not for me! I am the strongest of the tailed beasts. Even your father couldn't handle me. The great fourth Hokage of Konoha, Yondaime Hokage, the Yellow Flash of Konoha, was no match for me. All he could do is seal my soul into you, and that cost him his life! **Naruto's retort was lost as he heard this.

_Could the demon fox be right? He knew my father? But that can't be true! What kind of father would condemn his own son to this fate? Some Hokage he was, if he couldn't even scratch a foe attacking his home. He at least could have killed me, saved me from this pain, this horrible life, this terrible existence! _Naruto thought angrily.

Gaara approached his friend cautiously. Nearby, all of the ninja who had come to the Land of Spring ran into the clearing, weapons at the ready. With their help, Kira and Yugito managed to subdue Kina long enough for Yamato to start controlling Kina's demon. Tall stone pillars surrounded Kina and soon all of her demonic chakra was forced back into her body. Kina now lay still on the ground, out cold, electricity crackling in and out of her wounded and exhausted body. The stone pillars descended back into the ground where they had come from.

Everyone turned to Gaara and Naruto now in time to see the fourth tail form. Naruto's cold red eyes closed briefly and quickly flared open again. Everyone knew that this was not the Naruto they knew. The Naruto they knew was gone, asleep deep within himself. Yamato swore as the volatile chakra of the Kyuubi no Kitsune repeatedly burned Naruto's skin, it growing back almost immediatelly.

"We need to stop his rampage quickly. Otherwise, that healing will consume his life force and slowly kill him!"Yamato ordered, now taking a position on the front line. The other shinobi quickly lined beside them, Kira and Yugito still in their jinchuuriki forms.

Kira was the first one to make a move. He stepped up bravely, not seeing any trace of the kind and gentle Naruto within the red eyes of the berserking jinchuuriki in front of him. "Let's end this. And we'll end it jinchuuriki to jinchuuriki." He said with a commanding voice.

Note:

Where the heck did this come from? I don't know. But here it is. I swear this stuff writes itself, only using me as the tool through which it is written. Anyway, after how exhausted I am after typing this chapter from the top of my mind, I would like some reviews if you have the time.


	12. Finaly's of the Fights

Naruto's only reply to Kira was to growl, the chakra surrounding him flaring up. Two of his tails lashed out at Kira while Yamato gave new orders. "Shikamaru, Sai, remain on the front lines. Gaara's siblings move up with them. Everyone will be back-up, also doing damage control." Yamato stepped up with those who he had commanded to stay on the front line. "Don't let that chakra touch you." Everyone nodded.

Yugito stepped up as Naruto turned his sights on those who had been designated back-up and damage control. "You won't hurt them!" Yugito swore and fired off ball after ball of blue ephemeral fire. Naruto's chakra's tails simply blocked them, deflecting them to the ground, where they fizzled.

"Yugito, what do we? We can't even touch him!" Kira demanded, using his own tails to block Naruto's tail, which were trying to smash into him the ground.

"Leave it to me!" Shikamaru ordered, making some hand signs. "I hope this works." His own shadow stretched out and connected with Naruto's. Naruto tried to move and couldn't. Enraged, the berserking Naruto fought even harder to get free, making Shikamaru tremble as fought for control.

Yugito shot another ball of ephemeral fire his way, hitting Naruto square in the back. Shikamaru also cried out as Naruto roared. "What? Did Naruto somehow manage to hurt Shikamaru?!" Yugito wondered, clearly confused.

"No!" Shikamaru yelled angrily. "Whatever happens to him happens to me!" He informed them. "Just try to subdue long enough for Yamato to do that thing again. I can't control his body for much longer." He grunted with effort now. Sai quickly drew some large animals and they raised themselves off the paper, running around to Naruto's limbs, and collapsing back into normal splatters of ink. Naruto was still moving around on all fours. Temari took out her giant fan and made the ink harden, giving a few more seconds of Naruto being unable to move.

Kira wrapped his tails around Naruto and Shikamaru released Naruto's shadow. Temari let loose her wind attacks, summoning a giant weasel wearing a black vest outlined in red as Naruto fell back with a loud yelp. A giant scythe was grasped in between in the weasel's front paws. "Go, but don't kill him!" She ordered. The weasel swiped at Naruto. Naruto rolled on the ground to avoid the scythe, hitting the weasel in the back with one tail as he rolled.

And the weasel vanished. "What?!" Temari exclaimed.

"It's that foxes chakra. It affects summoned creatures like your weasels and his clones in an unusual way." Temari nearly growled herself at Yamato's explanation.

"Wait, is the fox...laughing?" Hinata asked from the sidelines. Matsuri listened closely, to the funny sound that Naruto was making now.

"Yep. He's laughing." Matsuri confirmed. Matsuri also noticed the very concerned look Hinata had on her face. "Naruto will be ok." Matsuri promised. "Gaara won't let it go much farther. Neither will anyone else." Hinata still looked doubtful.

"NARUTO! WAKE UP ALREADY!" Hinata yelled at the top of her lungs. The fox laughed harder.

**"Little mortal, your Naruto is asleep deep within himself. Nothing can wake him now, not as long as I am in control." **The kyuubi stated boastfully. **"For so long he imprisoned me, now I will imprison him!"**

Kina, who had been brought over to the sidelines by Kira after she had returned to normal, groaned and woke up. She looked vastly different now. Golden hair and eyes had been replaced with jet black hair and almost as darkly colored eyes. Her clothes were ripped and torn in some places. Everyone on the sidelines turned their attention to Kina as she struggled to her feet laboriously. "Hey, you shouldn't move yet!" Ten-ten urged, trying to get her to lay back down.

"N..o." Kina said in between heavy breathing. "I can...do something...to knock the kyuubi senseless...from here. While...berserking...I didn't...think to use it." She staggered and fell to one knee, trying to catch her breath. "Help..me. Please. I can stop this...here and now." Ten-ten and Matsuri each took an arm and led her closer to the battle. "Stop..here." She managed to stand under her own power. But Ten-ten, Matsuri, and Hinata all stood ready for anything.

"What's she doing?!" Baki demanded, running over. Shikamaru, who had retreated to the sidelines himself, since using his shadow control jutsu had taken so much out of him, stopped Baki.

"Let her. We'll be ready to do anything at anytime." Baki let them continue, harboring serious doubts.

"Everyone move away from him." Kina said. Yugito, who was familiar with Kina's abilities, ushered everyone away, knowing what was about to happen.

"Back away everyone, NOW!" Yugito said as Kina let out a screech. Everyone clapped their hands over their ears as they heard this. The earth around Naruto rolled and the berserking demon fell to his knees. As the demon controlling Naruto passed out, he slowly fell to the ground. As Naruto's unconscious body hit the ground, he hit the ground fully human again.

Yugito and Kira returned to their normal human forms and ran to Naruto's side, where Hinata was already. Ten-ten and Matsuri had caught Kina, who had passed out again as soon as Naruto had fully returned to normal. As she was lowered to the ground, Yamato got in contact with the medics who were supposed to be waiting.

"Captain Yamato, will he be ok?" Hinata asked concerned, looking down at Naruto. Not only was he severely burned on most of his body, his chest was heavily cut up too.

"The medics are on their way. Everyone will be fine soon enough." A large group of medics flooded the field they were all in. Next to Hinata, Naruto suddenly seized up and grunted in pain. Yamato pulled Hinata out of the way as they tended to Naruto. "They just need time." He assured the distraught Hyuga.


	13. Hey, What's This!

So, people liked the last chapter. I'm glad you liked it. Here's the next chapter. I just realized something about the last chapter. I completely forgot about Naruto's chakra armor. I know I had him put it on. LOL, huh?

Chapter 12

Many people were currently crowded into the home of Naruto, Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari. It was shortly after the fight and the injured were being looked after. Yugito and Kira were the least injured among them. Yugito had no injuries, while Kira had his arms bandaged, due to being injured by Naruto's tails repeatedly slamming down onto them. Yamato wasn't injured, just severely exhausted by controlling two powerful tailed-beats one after the other. Except for Naruto and Kina, no one else was really injured.

"Those two just need time." The doctor assured them as he finished examining both of them. "Naruto is in the worser condition, but he'll be fine. He has quite the amazing healing rate. But I suggest giving them some peace and quiet, to let them rest in peace." Temari nodded.

"Thank you, doctor. We'll see to it." Temari assured as the doctor left. "Okay, after they wake up, you can see them. But for now, I'd like you to give them some peace." Temari ordered. Baki herded everyone out from the house, all except for those who lived there, Yugito, Kira, and Shion. Yamato would have helped him, but he was resting himself, as was Shikamaru, who was shaken after controlling the then berserking Naruto, even for the short time he had been able to do it.

"Gaara, are you ok?" Shion asked, concerned for Gaara's well being.

"I'm fine. Truth be told, I was useless in that fight." He answered with a depressed tone of voice. Kira shook his head no.

"No, you weren't." He corrected. "Had you not held Kina down with your sand, it would have been a lot worse than what it was." Gaara doubted this.

"Gaara," Kankuro asked, "didn't Naruto have chakra armor on? Why did he get so beat up?"

"I can explain." Shion said. "It was the fox's chakra. It overpowered the chakra armor and made it stop working. Apparently, when I was talking to Yamato, he said that the fox's chakra was very volatile, and even poisonous. That's what keeping Naruto down right now, the poison in his system. It just has to come in contact with your skin apparently."

"Then why am I not poisoned?" Kira asked, holding up his bandaged arms. "Those tails repeatedly came into contact with my skin and I'm fine."

"We think that since you also have a tailed beast sealed in you, that protected you from the poison." Shion answered. "Of course, this is all hypothetical. We have no way of knowing." Kira sighed at the lack of answers. "I have to get back to the palace now. Let me know when they wake up, okay?" Gaara nodded and Shion kissed him on the cheek.

Gaara blanched at this and Shion laughed as she left. "I wonder what that was for." He wondered. His siblings burst out laughing.

"She likes you, bro." Temari stated bluntly. "You like her too, don't you?" Gaara blushed wildly at this thought.

"I'm going to check on Naruto and Kina." He said hurriedly, rushing from the room. Gaara heard everyone laughing as he left, and fought to keep his anger under control. _They don't mean to hurt me. This is what friends do, they do it as friends. _He assured himself, as bitter memories resurfaced, memories that reminded him of how he had been scorned and hated in Suna. _Naruto's life was even worse than mine, and no one sees him taking anything like this. But then again, that's Naruto, not me._

Gaara reached Kina's room first. He opened the door quietly and peeked in. To his surprise, Kina was already awake. "Kina, you should be resting." Gaara said as he walked in openly now. Vague recognition flashed on her face.

"Who are you? I feel like I've met you somewhere before? And while on the subject, where am I? And what happened to the other berserking jinchuuriki?" She asked hurriedly, resulting in a coughing fit. Gaara handed her a glass of water, which she took gratefully.

"Don't get so worked up. My name is Gaara, formerly of Suna, now of the Land of Spring. We did meet before, but I doubt you remember. I was one of those who went to stop you from berserking. And you're at my house. As for the other berserking jinchuuriki, Naruto is still sleeping. His demon is the nine-tailed fox, and his losing control greatly injured him." Gaara explained. "You can stay here as long as you like. We have four other jinchuuriki in this house, two of which live here full time now."

"Who?" She asked softly.

Gaara answered. "I have the one-tail. Naruto has the nine-tails. You know Yugito and Kira." Kina's stomach growled. "I'll go tell everyone you're awake and bring you some food. You must be starving." Kina nodded gratefully.

Gaara left the room and made some soup. "Gaara, why are you making soup? You never liked soup." Temari asked.

"It's not for me, it's for Kina. She's awake and very hungry." He finished making the instant soup and he poured into a large bowl and grabbed a spoon. "Now if you'll excuse me." He brought the soup to Kina who took it gratefully. Kira and Yugito followed Gaara into the room.

"Thank you." She said. She looked at Yugito. "Yugito? Kira? You came all the way here to save me?" Both nodded encouragingly. "Do I deserve to be saved? After all, what I did to Naruto?"

"Kina, that wasn't you." Yugito explained. Kina looked up confused. "It's the nature of his demon. It gives him great power, but also comes at a great price. His injuries are the result of him losing control and the fox taking over and going too far."

"I see." Kina said seriously. "Will he be okay?"

Gaara nodded. "He should be fine. He just needs time. Speaking of him, I need to go check on him." Gaara said, getting up and stopping in the doorway. "Kina, I'm glad you're ok. You're among friends here, so don't worry about anything." Gaara left and shut the door behind him softly. He reached his friend's room and peeked in cautiously.

Naruto was still sleeping the day away, not that he hadn't earned the right, after what had happened today. His covers were pulled up to his waist, leaving his arms and chest uncovered. The burns had all healed by now, thanks to the fox's power. But his chest was still bandaged up completely, still cut up from Temari's wind. Those would take some time to heal, even for Naruto. _His healing ability must be pretty much at the limit for now. It's amazing that the burns were even healed, given his condition. _Gaara thought sadly.

He left the room and shut the door, leaning against the wall opposite the door. "Why must things like this happen to good people? It's not right." He complained. Gaara looked up as he heard someone approaching. It was Kira.

"That's the fate of all jinchuuriki, my friend." Kira said. Gaara could only nod. "His life must have been bad to make him leave the village. You as well. Yugito was at least given a chance to be seen as herself. And I was helped greatly in my control when I was younger. You three have a hard road ahead of you. But once you finish going down the road, you'll be stronger for it."

"My life was good compared to his. I at least was not abused, because everyone was afraid of me. My personality was unstable due to Shukaku. When I met Naruto, my life was changed completely. Now at least, I know I have someone I can actually trust. I was the Kazekage's son."

"Was?" Kira asked.

"Yeah, since I left the village, I no longer claim my ancestry. I am no longer that person." Gaara explained.

"What about Naruto?" Kira inquired.

"Despite his harsh life, he's always been so cheerful, never giving up. We don't know who his parents were. But he was never seen as Naruto, but as the demon who is sealed within him. Abused, hated, Konoha was so cruel to him. They didn't see him as human." Gaara was surprised to feel a tear running down his cheek now. "The last straw was when he asked a girl out and she said she loved another, who was similar to him. _'He's been hurt badly. That's why he needs someone like me to not give up on him.' _Those were her words of explanition. It never occured to her that Naruto was the same as well. Hinata was his only true friend there."

"Konoha is severely judged by the ninja world." Kira said. "The largest village, the largest shinobi population, the most successful economy. They are expected to be perfect, to be strong. But because of this expectation, they think they can do no wrong. To treat Naruto like that was no problem to them. It's still cruel though. No one has the right to treat a fellow human fellow being the way they treat jinchuuriki's. It's not as if we begged for this to happen to us."

Temari walked up the stairs now. "The meal is ready. I would have shouted as I usually do, but..." Her eyes fell onto Naruto's door. Both understood. She wanted to let Naruto rest. "Will you two come down or should I put something aside for you?"

"We'll come. Naruto wouldn't want us to be depressed about this. How's Kina?" Gaara asked.

"She's feeling well enough to join us at the table. So she'll be eating with us." She explained as they went downstairs.

As soon as they all sat down, they began to eat. As everyone talked animatedly, Gaara didn't really join in. Everyone knew where his thoughts were. _It hurts to see him like this. _Gaara realized with a shock. _I've never felt like this before. What should I do?_

Gaara's question never had a chance to be answered. Footsteps were heard coming down the stairs. "What?" Temari asked. Naruto was the only one upstairs. She got up to check on him, only to see Naruto stop at the foot of the stairs, panting heavily, a button-up shirt on, but hanging open, unbuttoned.

"What's this?" He asked comically. "How could you guys eat without me?" He asked, pretending to be hurt with a huge grin on his face.


	14. Recoveries

All the Naruto fan girls: Yay, he's okay!

Naruto: Uhmm, thanks?

Jasaiya: See, you have fangirls now Naruto! Aren't you happy?

Naruto: Yeah, I'm happy. But did I have to get beat up so bad, _again?_

Jasaiya:...

Naruto: Did Temari have to attack me?! So for both of your current Naruto stories have bad things happening to me!

Temari: Don't blame me! It's not like I chose to. Jasaiya, on the other hand...-grins-

Jasaiya: Be quiet! Both of you! Jeez, I do my best to make you feel involved and I'm hated for it?

Sasuke: Then why don'y you make me feel involved?

Jasaiya: Who invited you, emo-boy? Last I checked, neither you nor Sakura were in my good books. Now, ignoring those two, let's move on with the story!

Chapter 14

"Naruto, you should still be in bed!" Temari and Gaara exclaimed as one. "With how bad your injuries are, you shouldn't be moving around." Everyone stared at Gaara and Temari as they spoke unison.

"But I was hungry! And I smelled Temari's cooking down here. Temari is a really good cook." Naruto said in his defense. Everyone at the table was not sure whether to laugh or make Naruto go back to bed. "Come on, you wouldn't let me starve, would you?"

"We'll bring you something up there. Now go back and lay down." Temari compromised.

"Fine." Naruto said in defeat, turning to back up the steps. He froze and a hand moved to clutch his chest. Gaara moved to help his friend but Kina reached him first. "Oww. What happened to put me in this condition?"

"Naruto, I'll help you back upstairs." Kina said. "It's the least I can do to thank you for saving me from myself." Naruto looked Kina over.

"You sure look different when you're not in your jinchuuriki form." Naruto commented, making her blush. "I at least hope we could be friends. I'm sorry though for what we had to do to calm you down."

Kina shrugged. "It was necessary. And I'm sorry for using my screech on you. It can knock living things unconscious, but leaves a nasty headache afterwards." Naruto grimaced.

"So that's where this huge headache came from." He said as he and Kina made their way up the stairs. "And, as you said, it was necessary." Naruto leaned on Kina as they made their way up the stairs slowly. His healing right now was a bit slower than usual, so his injuries, which he wasn't used to hurting him, were really hurting him. "My room is right here." He told Kina. Kina opened the door for him and walked him to his bed. Kina rearranged his pillows so he could sit up in bed."

"Here." She said. Naruto lay back down, already exhausted.

"You don't need to do this. I would say we're equal now." Naruto said.

"No, we're not. Yes, we both stopped each other from berserking. But you saved me from my loneliness. I don't want to return to the village. I want to stay here with you. You're different somehow." Kina said sadly.

"Maybe Yukie will let you stay." Naruto suggested. "If your life was anything like ours, your village won't miss you. And she has said Gaara and I could stay. Maybe she'll let you stay as well. You'd be welcome here. I know that much."

Kina sat down on the bed, starting to cry. "I'd believe that, coming from you. Maybe I'll talk to Queen Yukie soon. Maybe, just maybe, I would be allowed to stay." Naruto wiped away her tears.

"You just need a fresh start. Yukie is good at giving those." Naruto said. Someone knocked at the door. Temari and Gaara came in, both having some food.

"We brought Kina her food as well. It sounded like she wanted to talk to you alone." Gaara explained to Naruto. "We'll let you two have some private time now."

"Thanks." Naruto replied as the door was shut as Gaara and Temari left. "Come to think of it, how old are you?" Naruto asked. "I'm thirteen, as is Gaara."

"I'm ten." She answered shyly. "Why?"

"I'm curious." Naruto answered and moved to pick up his bowl. He felt something under the napkin the bowl was on and he found a piece of paper. To be more exact, a letter, from Yukie.

_Naruto,_

_Yukie here. I'd imagine Kina is the same as you and Gaara. Invite her to stay here, assuring her that she'd be welcome. Maybe you could work the changes in her that you worked on Gaara, Shion, and myself._

_Yukie_

Naruto laughed and showed her the letter. "Read it." He said and Kina read.

"I could stay here? Really?" She asked excitedly, life coming into her depressed expression. Naruto nodded. Kina cried again, this time out of happiness. "What did she about the whole you changing everyone thing?"

"I seem to have an unusual talent. I can make anyone, well, almost anyone, my friend. Gaara was a mess. He hated the world, the people in the world." Naruto answered.

"Ahh, the usual frame of mind for our kind." Kina said. "Except for you. You're the oddball in the group, no offense meant."

Naruto grinned. "None taken. As I was saying, Shion was the selfish and uncaring priestess of the Demon Country. Now look at her, the bright little of sunshine that she is." Naruto laughed. "And Yukie, I met her on a mission. Due to uprisings in this country, my old sensei had to sneak her out of the country. When we met, she was jaded and angry, not wanting anything at all to do with the country who's throne she was the rightful heir to."

"She doesn't sound like that kind of person now." She said, starting to eat. "Your food will get cold if you don't eat it soon." Kina reminded. Naruto ate himself. For a few minutes, they ate in silence. Both of their hungry stomachs were a little satisfied now, as were their minds and hearts.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Naruto's bandages came off a few days later. As usual, there were no scars, despite the fact that Temari had really done some serious injuries on his chest. Kina was amazed when she learned of his healing ability. "Hey, Naruto." Shikamaru said bluntly one evening. "You do know that tomorrow is the first day of school, _right?" _Shikamaru asked.

"Do you mean my schooling or the ninja school?" He asked.

Shikamaru sighed. "The ninja school. You will be one of the teachers." Naruto had completely blanked on this, something he attributed to healing from a rather severe fight. Kina had also needed some special help, as her self-confidence was completely shattered at the moment. Yugito and Kira had left the previous day as well.

Kina, who had gotten some new clothes now, ones that actually fit, walked into the living room where everyone was. She wore a short white dress with spaghetti straps over some long shorts. She had also gotten rid of her old headband and replaced with one from the Land of Spring. She was staying with them now as well, Shion, who seemed to like interior decorating, helping her decorate her room. Naruto had seen it.

Kina's room was all beautiful colors, something she had apparently wanted to do in her old village but hadn't been able to. The walls had been painted on, an amazing sunset reflecting off a lake. She had lacy black curtains on her window, as well as a big dresser, a desk, a comfy chair for it, and a circular chair near that as well.

"Naruto, are you even paying attention to me?!" Shikamaru demanded, jerking the blonde back to reality. Naruto sighed and got up.

"I heard ya!" He said. "Jeez, do you even know how to how to relax?"

"I know how to relax." He said. "It's just that, right now, I can't. This whole school thing is such a drag. Just like organizing the chuunin exams."

Notes:

LOL. I took a Naruto character test and I came up as Shikamaru. It was probably the fact I gave a lot of lazy answers. I'm thinking about doing a oneshot soon, featuring some of the characters I have mentioned. I'm just not sure what will be the point of it be. It should be funny though.


	15. First Day of Academy!

The first thing Naruto noticed as he walked into the academy and tried to find his classroom was that it was alot busier than it had been previously. "Naruto, this should be fun, right?" Kina asked. Kina had chosen to be a ninja who didn't take away missions, at least for now. But she had said she wanted to work at the school. Gaara and Naruto had allowed it, seeing as Naruto would really need help with his teaching. Kina was actually very smart and good at chakra control. So it had been decided that Kina and Naruto would both teach one class.

"Yeah, it should be. Of course, it's going to be a few years until it really gets going. But it'll be worth it. Speaking of the students, did you remember to grab today's lesson plan?" Naruto asked.

"I put all the lesson plan's Shikamaru provided in the classroom already." Kina answered. They reached their classroom and opened the door to find a small group of kids eagerly awaiting them. They had to keep their numbers small until they would have enough team leaders to handle the teams once they moved up to genin. Temari, Kankuro, Gaara, Naruto, and Kina were all permanent residents of the Land of Snow now. Matsuri was heavily considering it. Hinata wanted to badly but that was not up to her. She had sent the letter to her father asking for permission but had not yet received her reply.

Back in reality now, Naruto and Kina walked to the front of the classroom. All of the kids, who had been chattering excitedly to pass the time, all fell silent, almost holding their breath waiting for class to start. "My name is Naruto Uzamaki. My companion here is Kina. We'll be your sensei's during your time in the academy." Naruto said, looking over his students, hoping he would be able guide them.

"We'll be taking this slow." Kina warned. There were only nine kids in this room. "Before you can learn jutsu, you must know about things like chakra, the history of ninja, the type of jutsu's that are known about today, and of course, what being a shinobi really means." Everyone nodded seriously.

"We'll start with some questions for you, to test what you already know." Naruto explained. "Who can tell me about the five great shinobi nations? Tell us your name too before you answer." A young girl with blue eyes and blonde hair raised her hand. "Yes, in the corner."

"My name is Shayna." The girl said shyly. "The five great shinobi nations are the five primary ninja nations, named after one of the five elements. Katon, fuuton, raiton, doton, and suiton." Or fire, wind, lightning, earth, and water. "Their leaders have the word 'kage' at the end, which means shadow. So they are called the hokage, kazekage, mizukage, tsuchikage, and raikage."

"Very good, Shayna." Naruto congratulated. "For ninja there is one important thing which they need. Information. Without it, a lot of the time, it's hard to fulfill the mission. Who can tell me about chakra?"

Two people raised their hand. Shayna and a boy with dark hair and eyes. Naruto called on the boy. "I'm Kai. As for chakra, there are several different types. The five main types are what Shayna just listed off. But there is also healing chakra. Each ninja is suited for a different element, for classifications sake, only use the five elements themselves. You need to use chakra paper, gotten from chakra trees, to identify your type of chakra. Chakra also powers your jutsu, each one requiring a different amount. If you run out of chakra, you can't perform jutsu and will often leave you exhausted."

"Does anyone know about the different types of jutsu?" Kina asked. Shayna raised her hand again. Kina called on her since no one else raised theirs. "Shayna."

"Genjutsu is illusionary techniques, requiring hand seals. I'm pretty sure it uses a form of hypnotism." Kina nodded encouragingly. "Taijutsu uses no chakra, instead focusing on hand-to-hand combat and speed. While not necessarily powerful when it comes to only one hit, it uses speed to enable more hits, just not as much in each one. Ninjutsu involves certain skills, just as elemental manipulation." Shayna told them all.

"One thing that Shayna did not tell us, as this applies only to certain clans, is doujutsu. This is eye techniques, which require no hand seals. Only those who are from a clan with a bloodline limit can use doujutsu, as it is also known as a family ability. Only those within the clans know how to use them." Naruto told the kids, contuining Shayna's answer. Naruto called on a kid who had raised their hand.

"So, it's only an ability that the certain family can use, determined by one's genetic structure?" He asked.

"Yes." Kina said. "Two good examples are the Sharingan, which only the Uchiha Clan can use, and the Byakugan, which only the Hyuuga Clan use. Both these clans are in Konoha. I would like to hear the rest of your names before break for lunch."

Besides Kai and Shayna, there was Hiro, Tamaki, Mui, Mitsu, Tsuzuki, Fay, and Fiore. Kai, Hiro, Tamaki, and Mitsu were all guys, the rest being girls. "Alright, after lunch, we'll talk a little longer and see how you guys are with your aim." Naruto promised, getting several excited replies.

Notes:

There will be a timeskip. I don't think anyone would be willing to plan and type every single lesson. I had to find a lot of information for this chapter from different sources. And me, with Shikamaru like nature, found it very annoying. I still can't figure out why that other Naruto character test said I was Sasuke. Anyway, hopefully I can get some reviews. And I'm sorry this took awhile. Really, I am.


	16. Remembrance of Heartache

Notes:

THERE HAS BEEN A TIME SKIP! REMEMBER THAT! So, the time skip makes it three years gone by. Naruto was 13 originally, now he's 16. There's been a few major changes. -cue dastardly music and insert your idea of a good evil laugh- Also, NaruHina fans, I'M SORRY! PLEASE FORGIVE ME! DON'T KILL ME! I'M APOLOGIZING IN ADVANCE! YOU'LL UNDERSTAND WHEN YOU READ THE CHAPTER!

Chapter 15

Three years had passed since the ninja program had been started. Since then, the students, who were the first generation of shinobi, were almost ready to take the test to see if they were good enough to become genin. Naruto saw Hinata pass through the hallways. He couldn't help but think of what had happened to her almost three years ago as he sat down in his office.

_Flashback:_

_Hinata ran into Naruto and Gaara's house. Temari, who was cooking, saw that she was crying. "Wher-rr-e is Naruto?" Hinata asked with a trembling voice._

_"He's upstairs in his room." Temari answered. "But wait!" Temari called. Hinata either didn't hear or didn't care. She still charged up the stairs, the bad news running through her mind nonstop. The letter she had just received from her father was still crumpled in her fist. _

_"Naruto, can I come in?" She cried as she reached his room. Her knees went weak and she collapsed. The door, which hadn't been properly shut, came all the way open. She somehow got to her knees and looked up. "What's going on?" She demanded, her fist loosening and her father's letter falling to the ground._

_Kina was sitting on Naruto's lap. Her arms were around his neck. As she watched, they broke off their kiss. "Hinata." She got to her feet shaking her head. "Let me explain! No, don't leave!" He yelled as she ran out of the room, crying even harder._

_Naruto gently lifted his girlfriend off his lap and picked up the paper she had dropped. "Naruto, what is it?" Kina asked, as he got a sad look on his face._

_"Hinata's been banished from her clan." Naruto said angrily, crumpling the letter even more in his fist. "Her father has made her little sister heir in her place and has even thrown away all of her things. Her name can't even be mentioned." Naruto felt a tear coming from his eye. "He was always like this to her. And now this. Sorry, but I gotta go after her!" He said, leaving the room himself._

_End Flashback_

To this day, their relationship was a little strained. Naruto had never noticed her more than friend feelings. And though they were friends again for the most part, it would never go back to the way it was before, not as long as he was dating Kina. But he didn't want to break with Kina. Kina was someone who understood him, not only as a person, but as a fellow jinchuuriki.

"Naruto!" Gaara half yelled, directly into his ear. Naruto jumped and scowled at the red-head.

"What?" He asked broodingly.

"It's time for school. Remember, today is the test to see who becomes genin." Gaara reminded. Gaara had recently become a jounin. And Naruto was quickly on his way there, almost there in fact. Temari and Kankuro had joined them. Hinata was still a chuunin, as Kina, though that was because of Kina'a age. She had just made thirteen two months ago. The rankings had been decided by a joint group of high ranking ninja from Suna, Konoha, and Kina's old village. Matsuri was also a jounin now.

"Right." Naruto said, heaving himself off the chair in his office. "Let's go."

"What were you thinking about?" Gaara asked. "You had a serious look on your face."

"It was nothing." Naruto answered. "Just reflecting on the changes we've made." With a lot of help from others, Naruto had finally caught up with his former classmates in regards to skill level, something he had always been behind on. But that had been a long road, from there to here. Not only did he look a lot older now, he had matured a little.

"We're here." Gaara said as they reached the classroom where all the students were gathered. Another room had had six kids, and over time, the classes had mingled until it was only one class. "I wonder how we'll do this. We'll need jounins to be team leaders. And someone to teach."

"Yukie and I were talking about that." Naruto mentioned. "We looked back through the plans, and Konoha will send a teacher here. It'll probably be Iruka-sensei. We'll have teams." Gaara and Naruto entered the room. Fifteen hopeful kids greeted them, all of them firing off questions. Every one of them wanted to know how today was going to go down.

"Naruto-sensei, Gaara-sensei, how are we going to do this today?" They all asked excitedly, each one phrasing the question different. They calmed them down.

"First off, a good ninja always shows discipline." Gaara corrected, making everyone fall silent, guilty looks on their faces. "But, your enthusiam is good. You just need to learn to show it in different ways, healthy ways."

Naruto took over the speech now. "We'll be doing the exam in two rooms." Naruto said, holding up two fingers. "Three jounin will be in each room, to judge you. You'll be required to show the ability to perform three of the techniques you've learned here. You'll be told what ones as soon as you enter. After you leave, you can't tell anyone else what they were. To be caught doing so will automatically bump you back to academy."

"Alright, stay here and we'll call you by name into the rooms." Gaara said, going into a separate room from Naruto. Naruto went into his own room, where Matsuri and Temari were waiting for him. Kankuro was in Gaara's room. Baki had come from Suna to help keep the number of jounin fair for the exam judging.

One by one, the kids were called in. Baki was amazed to see that not one of them had failed. "Which is a testament to you guy's teaching ability. I do have one suggestion for Naruto though."

"What is that?" Naruto asked.

"Fiore and Mitsu are the ones who have the most trouble. Take one of them, giving the other to one of the more experienced jounin. Naruto, you could understand how they feel." Baki said.

"Temari could take Mitsu." Gaara suggested. "Fiore has taken a liking to Naruto and will be able to gain the most for him."

"Sounds like a plan." Naruto agreed. "But you had better tell Matsuri that, as she's the one who is arranging the teams." Gaara laughed.

"That's true. So let's go do that." He said, being met by Shion and Kina as they walked out.

"Naruto, are you hungry?" Kina asked, knowing her boyfriend's appetite now. They had been dating for two years already.

"You know me, Kina. Of course I'm hungry. I want some ramen!" He said emphatically.


	17. Team Assignments!

It was deathly quiet in the classroom. All of the genin were sitting in their seats, excitement barely contained in their eyes. They had taken their sensei's advice and were trying to stay calm. But that was much harder to do than just saying they would do it. They had all arrived a half an hour early for this class meeting, eager to find out who would be teamed up with who. But their sensei's weren't even here yet.

"Now this is just depressing." Gaara commented as he and Naruto finally walked in, a tanned man with a scar across on his nose behind them. "Everyone, this is Iruka, the man who taught Naruto when he was in academy. He'll be taking over as the teacher here. As his new positions dictates, he'll be announcing the teams." Naruto handed Iruka some papers.

"Alright, let's get started." Iruka said. He sat down at the desk. Naruto adjusted his shirt, glad that he had been promoted to jounin in time to have a team. Gaara settled next to Naruto, who was leaning against the wall. Gaara still wore his chakra armor. Naruto had given up on that the first time he had overpowered his while trying to return Kina to normal years ago.

"Team 1, which will be led by Temari, will be Mitsu, Fay, and Mui." The three kids cheered. Temari decided to walk in now and they all lined up beside her as she called for them to join her. They left the room as Matsuri came in. "Matsuri's team, team 2, will be Shayna, Kai, and Hiro. Gaara's team 3 will consist of Shina, Tia, and Renee." Kankuro decided to join them now.

The new team's joined their sensei's and left the room. "Kankuro will teach team 4, which is Lena, Kanta, and Mori. Which leaves Naruto with Fiori, Tsuzuki, and Takeru as team 5." Fiori in particular was happy with her assigned sensei.

"I'm the only guy on the team?" Takeru asked. Naruto nodded with a warm smile.

"We'll do something my jounin master did with me while I was just a new genin." Naruto explained, leading his new team to an open location, where he had them all sit down. "We need to get to know each other. So when I call on you, tell me your name, your dream, and your favorite thing." He explained. "Takeru, you're first."

"I'm Takeru Shindo, my dream is to become strong enough to protect my home, and my favorite thing would have to be painting in my free time." Takeru said, adjusting his headband nervously over his dark red hair, green eyes both curious and scared of the path he had just sworn to take. If one had wanted to quit the academy and not be a ninja, but something else, they had the chance to while they were still academy students.

"Fiore?" Naruto asked, knowing full well how much he was looked up to the by the young girl.

"I'm Fiore Kaneda. My dream is to make everyone see what I can really do, as I'm an orphan and have no family and to have the ability to protect those I love." Fear flickered in the girl's blue eyes. Naruto saw himself in her very clearly, right down to the blonde short hair and blue eyes. "I also like ramen, and would eat it for every meal if I could." Naruto's suspicions were confirmed. He had been just like her when younger.

"I guess I'm up." Tsuzuki realized, brushing long black hair pulled into a simple pony tail behind her head. "I'm Tsuzuki, Tsuzuki Morino. My goal is to make people realize just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I'm worthless. I often get criticism because I don't act like a girl. And my free time is to train, I guess. My family are all soldiers."

Naruto was familiar with the Morino family quite well. They were one of the oldest families here in the Land of Spring. And while the oldest, also the most traditional, even training the girls in the family to be leaders and soldiers at a young age. Some of the best soldiers came from this family.

"And what does your family think of this?" Naruto asked.

"Well, they didn't exactly agree with it." Tsuzuki mentioned. "But I was never one for soldiering. They knew that while I had potential for being a soldier, my personality itself was in the way. They think this might help me become a 'warrior' in my own right." She snorted.

"Well, how about I see how much improvement you all made?" Naruto asked, eager to get started. The three genin also wanted to get started. "I haven't seen you all training lately. Be glad I'm not doing what my sensei made us do." Naruto said.

"What did your sensei make you and your team do?" Fiore asked.

"He wanted us to catch him and steal three bells off of him." He said. "But he is a jounin especially trained at hunting and avoiding us. We stood no chance. I ended up tied to a pole, as I had given the worst performance. Also, we weren't allowed to eat at all before hand. My teammates got to eat. We only had two meals." Naruto grinned. "But that had all been a test. He had forbidden them from giving me any food and wanted to see if we were really to break the rules for the good of a comrade."

"Did you pass?" Tsuzuki asked excitedly.

"Yes, we did. Had someone other than me been tied to the pole, I would have done the same." Naruto answered as he led the team to a training ground that had recently been set up.

"Naruto-sensei, we told you about us. Can you answer for us the same questions you asked us?" Takeru asked.

"Sure." He said. "My name is Naruto. My dream used to be to want to be acknowledged for my abilities and to become the Hokage of my village to show them that I wasn't worthless. I too was an orphan." He said, not elaborating further into his dark past. "As for what I like, I used to be a ramen fanatic and resisted all efforts to get me to eat something different, even though it's important for a ninja to maintain his or her nutrition. But now I like living here happy, accepted for who I am and teaching." He looked around and saw that they had arrived at their destination. "So, let's see where we all stand now."

Notes:

So, here's the next chapter. Sorry that it took awhile again. He he, people read my latest oneshot and wanted it as a full length story, so I'm working on three stories plus beta reading for two people, though they don't need stuff done a lot, as they are both amazing writers. Anyway, see you next chapter!


	18. Unwanted Company and Shocking News

Sorry this took awhile. 1) A lot of stuff to do. 2)Just been unsure of where to take this story. -sigh- I could alwats end it here, but it would be a pointless story if I did that.

Chapter 18

It was a quiet evening in the Sand Sibling's House. Gaara and Naruto had just gotten home from school. Today was also the first day they had with their team, after training them up until they had graduated academy. Both Gaara and Naruto, needless to say, where relaxing and enjoying the time off, since now that they had teams, it would be hard to find free time.

Temari, who had been helping Kankuro cook, had just told everyone that dinner was done. Both smiling and feeling good about themselves, had gotten up to go join Temari and Kankuro in the dining room when Shion walked in, leading the last two people he wanted to see from Konoha behind her.

"Hi, Naruto." Sakura Haruno said cheerily, waving. Naruto's expression became cold at this.

"Relax, dobe." Sasuke Uchiha ordered. "We're here on a mission. Tsunade-sama was against sending us, but it was really important and no one else could be sent, as a small group of ninja are always kept at home."

"Naruto, before anything else, I want to say sorry." Sakura said, bowing. "Back then, I didn't realize what I was saying. I hope you can forgive me. I really am sorry."

Naruto didn't know how to react to this. On one hand, he always forgave those who asked his forgiveness. On the other hand, Sakura had really hurt. Ever since they had started academy together, she had snubbed him time and time again, only thinking about the guy behind her. His confusion must have showed. Gaara reached out and put a hand on his shoulder, both as a gesture of comfort and to hold him back should Naruto get angry.

"She's apologizing, dobe." Sasuke said, breaking Naruto away from his thoughts. Naruto glared at Sasuke. "Say something already."

"Don't call me that!" Naruto yelled, pulling away from Gaara. "I'll eat later! If you need me, I'll be in my room." Naruto declared, storming up the stairs, where they heard his door slam clearly. Temari and Kankuro looked shocked at Naruto's sudden outburst, Temari dropping the ladle she had just been using for cooking to the floor, her apron now stained with spaghetti sauce.

"I knew it!" Sakura said, tears coming down her face now. "I drove him away from Konoha." Sasuke put a hand on her shoulder.

"Even if that's true, Naruto still could have handled it better." Sasuke told her.

"And why would he have the ability to do that?" Temari asked angrily. "He knows how to handle the problems here well. But he can't stand Konoha, even now. And you two, two of the people that he can't stand the most, suddenly waltz in here and expect it to go well? He has very bad memories of that place and you two had to come here and bring them up in his mind." She took off her apron. "I'm going find Kina. If anyone can make my brother smile again, it's her." She left the house.

"Brother?" Sasuke asked. "The dobe is an orphan." Sasuke stated.

"We adopted him into our family." Kankuro explained, now holding Gaara back. "And he specifically told you not to call him that. So please don't." Kankuro said, bending down to pick up Temari's apron and cooking ladle. "Gaara, can you clean up the spaghetti sauce on the floor?"

"Sure." Gaara answered, grabbing a towel and getting some of it wet and getting on his knees to clean up the sauce on the tile floor. He shot Sasuke and Sakura a venomous glance as he got up. "I'll go throw a load of laundry in. I'll put in this towel and Temari's apron." He said. Kankuro handed Gaara the stained apron.

"Who's Kina?" Sakura asked bravely.

"That would be me." A stern voice said from behind. Kina walked in behind Temari. "I'm Kina, Naruto's girlfriend. I was already on my way here to see him when Temari found me and explained the situation. I don't care who you are, or how much stronger you are than me. If I see you near him without his say-so, then you had better watch out. The same goes for the Uchiha." She said, going up the stairs.

She reached his room and knocked. "It's me, Kina. I'm alone." She said loudly when there was no answer.

"Come in." A low voice said. Kina walked in.

"Hey, Naruto." She said, going over to him, where he was laying on his bed. "Do you want to talk about?"

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"What about our mission? We were ordered to deliver a special message to Gaara and Naruto. We were told not to waste any time." Sasuke said, moving towards the stairs, only to be met a wall of sand that only took a second to fully form.

"You can deal with me. Maybe when Naruto calms down, he might be able to talk to you calmly. But until then, you and Sakura are going nowhere near him." Gaara said, walking in with an empty laundry basket.

"I can deal without seeing him." Sasuke said disdainfully. He pulled out a scroll and handed to the redhead. "It'a mainly Sakura who needs to talk to him. He _hurt _her by leaving."

"Like one time of hurt compares to the horrible life he led thanks to Konoha." Temari said. "Sasuke, you were one of the biggest ones to hurt him. He went through hell to try and catch up with you, dealing with the villager's at the same time. Sakura, you seem to be suffering enough. I can tell you're sorry. But you have to convince him of that, not us." Gaara lowered his wall of sand hesitantly.

"And I will." Sakura swore. "I'll prove to him that I'm sorry."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"It's okay." Kina said softly, stroking Naruto's hair. "I know they bring up bad memories. It's only natural that you would react this way. This proves that you're still human. Don't be ashamed." Naruto tried to stop from crying in front of Kina. He had never cried in front of anyone before, burying his sadness, grief, and pain away deep inside of himself.

"I should be stronger than this." Naruto said crossly. "I'm a ninja, not only a ninja, but a jounin at that."

"You know, crying isn't a sign of weakness." Kina informed Naruto. She had a way of knowing this kind of thing about him. Naruto gasped at this. "In fact, it's always the men who can show their tears, especially to their special someone, that are the best guys to date." She pulled him into an upright position. "It's okay. You can tell me anything and not be afraid of me telling anyone." Naruto felt his tears start to come down.

"I just...haven't had to deal with it for such a long time. My life finally takes a turn for the better and it seems they won't rest while I'm actually happy." He confessed, his hands curling into a fist. "Why can't they just leave me be? Surely there was someone else to do this mission. Why my _old _team?" Kina pulled his head onto her shoulder.

"No one can deny that you've changed." Kina told him, as he let out his frustration and anger. "But maybe you should try to forgive them. Temari did tell me that this Sakura girl apologized. And though that can't erase the pain, it's a good start. And you know by now that you don't have to be comparable to the Uchiha that Konoha boasts so proudly of."

Naruto didn't answer. He was still doing his best to appear manly. "Naruto, you don't have to be a man with me." Kina said. "When you were child, you had no chance to have a normal childhood. There was no one that you could cry to. Now you do. Don't be afraid to cry, don't hold your emotions in. Everything will be fine."

Naruto's stomach rumbled. "Now that I've effectively shown you that I can cry, it's left me hungry. But I'm not ready to face my old team just yet." He sighed.

"I'll go see if they are still down there. If they are, I'll grab you some food." Kina said, leaving the room. She walked downstairs and the pink haired Haruno girl and the Uchiha gone.

"How's Naruto?" Temari asked as Kina walked into sight.

"Fine." Kina said. "But he said he wasn't ready to face them yet but was also hungry. Naruto! They're not here!" Kina yelled up the stairs. Naruto came downstairs.

"Let's get back to dinner." Temari suggested. Everyone sat down and served themselves from the pot of spaghetti from the middle of the table. Gaara handed Naruto the scroll with the message from Konoha. Naruto's only response was two words. Gaara had already read the message.

"Oh crap."


	19. Bombshells

The scroll fell from Naruto's hand and onto the floor. Everyone besides Gaara froze at this. "Naruto, will you be ok? If you need sometime alone, we'd understand. This is your really your day for emotional bombshells." Naruto got depressed again.

"I need to think by myself. Gaara, if they want to know, you can tell them." Naruto said. He walked up the stairs to his room.

"Gaara, what message did that scroll contain?" Kina demanded as soon as Naruto was out of earshot.

Temari picked up the scroll and read it. She too almost dropped the scroll. Kankuro took it from and whistled softly. "No wonder Naruto is the way he is right now." He handed the scroll to Kina, who read it quickly.

"Oh my." She said softly. The scroll contained two messages. One was a warning. An organization calling themselves Akatsuki were coming here, after three the jinchuuriki here. "Oh crap. We need to prepare for this." Kina said. Temari and Kankuro nodded. But that had not been the emotional bombshell that had just hit Naruto. No, the second message concerned primarily Naruto.

His mother was alive and well. She had gone on a mission and never returned. Her death had never been confirmed either. It turned out that she had been captured and held captive for over ten long years. And two weeks ago, she had been rescued by a team of chuunin who had inadvertedly found her where she had been held captive. After a week of pure sleeping for the now rescued woman, the first thing she had asked for when she had woken up was to see her son, in whom she hadn't seen since he was only a few months old.

Tsunade was the one who had explained everything. Tsunade had told her what he had gone through, where he was, and why. And while Kushina was angry that her husband's last wished had been ignored, she wanted more to see her son at least once and properly explain. And so Tsunade had promised to give him a message to tell him of her return at long last.

A little while later, Naruto walked back downstairs with a determined look on his face. "In two days, I'm leaving for Konoha." He told them. "Gaara, I don't know how long I'll be gone. Could you watch over my team for me? I'll explain to them why I'm leaving. But I need someone to make sure that they train, not that I'm too concerned about this."

"Sure thing. But you need to tell Yukie that you're leaving." Gaara reminded.

"I know. I'm going to the palace right now to tell her. Tomorrow I'm packing and buying my boat ticket. And the day after that I'm leaving." He explained, putting his shoes. "Can I have the scroll for a little while? I need to show Yukie." Temari handed over the scroll. He kissed Kina before leaving. "I'll be back soon." He promised.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Naruto got through to Yukie with no problem. She had just finished a meeting with some officials. "Naruto, how can I help you this evening?" Yukie asked, relieved that the meeting was over.

"Two shinobi from Konoha came this evening. They delivered a message." He handed her the scroll.

"I see." She said evenly after reading all of it. "We'll coordinate with the ninja populace on the defense tomorrow. But as for your mother, I hereby grant you as much time you may need. Don't worry about things here. We'll be fine without you here for a little while, though we will miss you. When are you planning on leaving?"

"In two days." Naruto answered. "I was thinking on the way here. Is it possible to bring my mother here if she wants to come?" Naruto asked.

Yukie smiled. "Of course. I was just thinking that exact same thought. Tell her that she'll be welcome here should she want to come." Naruto felt extreme relief at this, something that must have showed on his face. "In fact, I'll even see you off when you leave.." She walked over to him and hugged him. "I hope this turns out well for you." Yukie said. "I really do."

Naruto returned the hug. "Thank you. I really hope this all works out too. If she really is my mom, then..." His sentence trailed off. He was already wondering what she looked like, what her personality was. He had so many questions, ones that had bugged him his entire life. Maybe, just maybe, he could finally get some answers. "Well, let's just say it'll be a change."

"To say the least." Yukie agreed, amazed by how alive he looked right now. "I'm glad to see you so excited. I wonder what she's like. She at least has to come visit sometimes. I insist on that much."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Tsunade made her nightly visit to Kushina. Kushina was still a wreck physically. She had been found half starved, injured, and locked up in an underground prison where only a little sunlight made its way in. And while she was making great progress physically, in pretty good health in terms of what she had gone through, her mind was only on one thing. Every time Kushina saw the sun set from her bed in the hospital, she would say one name. "Naruto." This name would be accompanied by thoughts of what he looked like now, how he would react to her just popping up out of nowhere, and if he was happy or not. Also, she thought, it was one more day since she had been found that she was apart from her only child.

"I just recieved a message from the Land of Spring." Tsunade announced, a scroll in hand. Kushina looked up. Tsunade had told her that Naruto lived there now. Tsunade handed the scroll to Kushina. "It was adressed personally to you, so it's still unopened. But I know who it's from."

Kushina took the scroll. "My son?" She asked shakily. Tsunade nodded. Almost afraid to read it, Kushina opened it anyway. It was written with a shaky hand.

_I'm not quite sure what to call you just yet. As you can probably tell, my hands are shaking really bad right now. I don't think Tsunade-baa-chan would lie to me about you. So I'm going to trust that you are the woman who gave birth to me. We've never met, at least that I can remember. But despite that fact, I'm still on my way there right now. I don't know where I'll be when you get this. But I hope you get this soon. I really want to meet you._

_I'm wondering a lot of things. What you look like, what your personality is like, what happened to separate us. For the longest time, I thought I had been abandoned by you. But now, I know, that is not the case. I have so many things to ask you, as I'm sure you want to ask me many things. We have _a lot _of catching up to do. Truth be told, I was glad to hear that you were not only alive, but the first thing you asked about was me. _

_But there are a few things you should know. 1) I'm happy. I'm a jounin here in my country. Not only that, I have a group of siblings that adopted me as one of them. I even have a really cute girlfriend! 2) I want to let you be my mother, if you want to. I won't let our time apart get in the way. And 3) Yukie has asked me to ask you to visit. She wants to know you, as she is essiantilly my sister. I wouldn't be surprised of you needed some time to relax. You'll always be welcome there. _

_I have to go now. I just got off the boat that took me here from the Land of Spring. I'm double timing it to get to Konoha. It means I'll get there faster. But don't get worked up. I want to greet a mother who looks her best and isn't stressed out. It'll take at most four days to reach there. I look forward to this meeting so much. Hopefully, I'll be able to shorten that time greatly though._

_Signed, Naruto Uzamaki_

Kushina burst out laughing. "My son certainly is something else." Kushina said, wiping tears away. "He's happy. Even has a cute girlfriend, as he puts it. And a family, a group of siblings that have taken him in as one their own."

"Speaking of which, we have an approximate time of arrival for him." Tsunade said. She held up two fingers. "In two days. He'll be here in two days."


	20. Dream Come True

Naruto was barely even winded by the time he reached, despite two days of hard travel, only stopping to catch a little shuteye and to eat once or twice a day. It was afternoon when he finally caught sight of Konoha. Going even faster, he stopped before he came in sight of the gate and walked up calmly. The guards at the gate did a double take when they saw him. He wasn't easy to forget. Even it had been a long time since they had seen him, he was still very clearly Naruto Uzumaki.

"Hi." He said cheerfully. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I'm expected." He held out a pass. "This is my proof."

"No need for that." A female voice said. Naruto turned around happily, recognizing that voice. "It's good to see you again. We thought you would never come back for a visit."

"Hey! Shizune!" Naruto exclaimed. "How is everything around here? It looks peaceful." Shizune smiled and pulled the much older Naruto into a hug. "Tsunade has made room for you at her place. But she figured that you would probably want to see your mother first."

"I do. I can eat and stuff later. The wait has been driving me insane. Does she really look forward to meeting me?" He asked nervously. Shizune smiled.

"Oh yeah. She's been so alive the past few days. At first she was really quiet. We could tell she was worried about how you would react. But ever since she got your letter, she's in very good spirits." Shizune said. They reached the hospital and Shizune led the way to a room on the third floor. "Tsunade-sama has been keeping her company when she can. But your mom is also nervous. She was actually worried that you would overexert yourself on your way here when she read that you would be double timing it."

He laughed. He heard Tsunade say something. They were right outside the door. "I just heard Shizune. She was waiting for Naruto at the gate. And I believe I just heard Naruto's laugh." Shizune knocked and entered. "Come in, Naruto. Don't be shy." Tsunade encouraged.

Naruto walked into the room and put his bag on the floor near the foot of the bed. Tsunade came up to him. "Next time don't take so long to visit." She scolded playfully. Tsunade smiled now. "We'll leave you two alone now. Come on, Shizune." Tsunade and Shizune left the room. Nervously, Naruto sat down next to the bed. For a minute, both looked at each other intently. And then the woman smiled.

"You look just like your father." She said. "I hope you can forgive me for not being there. I would have had it any other way than that."

"That was never an issue. I believe you when you say you couldn't help it." Naruto said softly. "I..this is a whole new thing for me. I thought, until recently, that all my birth family was either dead or didn't care about me. I'm sorry if I'm acting a little akward now." Kushina brushed this off. "But I think I must have taken after my father, whoever he was. The only thing looks wise that I have in common with you is my eye color." Kushina's blue eyes went wide with alarm. She brushed some of her shoulder length red hair out of her face.

"Naruto, you should know something. I'm not staying in Konoha. Tsunade has explained everything to me. And I won't stay in a place where my own son, _who was supposed to be treated like a hero_, was mistreated so badly. Do you think I could move in with you?" Naruto's eyes went wide at this. "Of course, if you're against this-"

"No." Naruto said suddenly. "I actually wanted you to come live with me, as I will not live here anymore. But I have no right to force you to do that. For my entire life, I wondered what it would be like to have a mother. And now, you're here. There's no way I'm wasting this chance. Of course you can live with me." His voice shook and he started crying, years worth of a single dream coming true. He wiped away the tears. "Look at me. A happy reunion and I'm crying." He paused. "In fact, only the third person I have cried in front of."

Kushina scooted over in the large hospital bed and motioned for Naruto to sit next to her. Naruto did so gladly. Kushina pulled Naruto into a hug. "For over the past ten years, only one thing has really kept me going." She said with a sniffle. "And that was seeing you again. I was so afraid you'd reject me. After all, it's been so long. It would only be fair." She kissed him on the forehead. "But from now on, I'm going to be there for you. No excuses this time." Naruto found that he couldn't stop his tears now.

"I know." He said simply. "I've been dreaming of moments like this for so long. So long. I never thought that dream would come true though." He was almost sobbing now. "I know what I'm doing right now may seem childish, but I don't really care." He hugged his mom back, hugging her tightly. Kushina stroked his back in a calming motion. "I really don't care. No one else can see us. I'm just happy that someone like you exists for me."

"How about I tell you my story first?" Kushina asked. "I'll answer any question you may have." Naruto pulled back and nodded eagerly. "Then you can tell me your story and maybe you can answer a few of my questions."

"Gladly." He said, wiping away his tears with a tissue from the box besides the bed and handed her one. "If I can answer it, I will." Kushina smiled and placed her hand on top of his.

"Then I'll start." Kushina said.

They spent the whole night talking. No one had the heart to break up such a reunion, even if visiting hours were long over. Naruto eventually fell asleep at around three in the morning, his head falling onto Kushina's shoulder. He looked exhausted, which made sense since he rushed to get here so fast. Smiling, she made some room for him to lay down.

"Hmm." He murmured in his sleep, smiling even. Kushina smiled herself, one thought dominant in her mind.

_Wherever he is is where my home is._

_.-.-.-.-.-.-.-._

The next morning Naruto woke up confused. He was alone on the bed. He looked around blearily and saw his mother standing near the window in a robe over her gown. "Urg." He muttered. "I think I need to eat something." Kushina smiled and turned around. "Mom!" He exclaimed. "So last night wasn't a dream." He said, relieved. "I'm glad." He pushed himself off of the bed. "I need to bathe and eat."

"Today I'm being discharged. Finally. I don't like being cooped up. Not after such a long confinement." She said, grabbing a white box from nearby. It was donuts. "I told Tsunade this morning about my decision. She doesn't blame me. You'regoing to catch up on some sleep before we even think about leaving though."

"Yes, of course." He said quickly before he started eating.

"Tsunade will let us stay at her place until then. I'm going to change into some normal clothes and we can get out of this depressing place." She said, grabbing a bag from nearby and walking into the bathroom. "And save some of those for me, hear?" She said as she shut the door.

Naruto touched the place where his mother had kissed him the night before. He smiled. He couldn't wait until everyone met her. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed his bag and and sat down on the bed, waiting patiently. "Ah, that feels better." She said as she walked out, now wearing black capri pants and a forest green shirt. "Everything is ready to go. I didn't want to wake you up. Your sleeping face was really peaceful."

Naruto held out the box of donuts for her. "Saved ya some." He said with a grin. "Now I believe you said something about leaving this depressing place?"


	21. A New Addition

Here is the next chapter! Check out the poll on my profile. It's to decide on if a character death should happen and if yes, who.

Chapter 21

_It's funny how this all feels now. _Naruto thought as he stood on the deck of the boat taking him to the land of spring. _It was this same boat and the same captain that I first went to the Land of Spring with. _He laughed out loud, remembering how depressed and worried he had been then. He even remembered his being tackled by that one rogue nin and going overboard. They had waited a week before leaving, as Kushina was still recovering and needed plenty of rest. And they were almost home. Naruto only hoped that they had gotten his letter on time saying he was on his way home with his mom.

"What are you thinking about?" Someone said behind him. Naruto jumped and saw that it was his mom. Before they had left, she had gotten some new stuff, since all of her gear had been long gone.

"Shouldn't you be resting?" He asked nervously. "You're still recovering."

"I'm fine now that I can move around and get fresh air." She assured. "You had an interesting look on your face."

"Remembering some things." He answered, staring out at the ocean they were traveling on. "First off, this was the original ship and captain that we had when we came to the Land of Spring. Also, Gaara got seasick as soon as the boat started to move." He laughed at that one. "When you see Gaara, you'll understand. I also remember the rogue ninjas who attacked this ship when we were on it."

"Must have been quite a fight." Kushina said with a laugh.

"It was. We weren't really having any problems actually. But then the leader of the rogue nins decided to charge me. We hit the gate." He said, pointing to a reinforced steel gate. "And it was a lot weaker then. It broke under our weight and we both went overboard. The water was really cold then, not warm like it is now. After we docked, Yukie and Shion met us at the docks and made us feel accepted." Kushina was smiling now too.

"Your friends sound important to you." She said.

"They are. And so is my team of genin's. I've only been gone for about two weeks, but I miss them. I wonder how far they've come. Gaara said he would supervise their training, but I'm still curious." Naruto said in agreement. "My siblings are really cool too. Gaara is dating Shion. Shion isn't a ninja. But she can see into the future, which has come in handy a lot of times."

"Ladies and gents, we'll be docking in the Land of Spring in about five minutes. Please have your luggage ready to go and be prepared to exit the boat." The captain said over the intercom.

"I'll go grab our stuff." Naruto said, running down to their room below deck and grabbing their stuff. He back up on deck grinning. "It's good to be home." He spoke out loud to no one in particular. He rejoined Kushina and watched the land get closer and closer. The boat finally drifted to a stop and the ramp was lowered.

Kushina looked around the place in awe. The Land of Spring was very beautiful. Not only that, the streets were kept clean and clear. It was overall a very nice place to live.

"Naruto! You're back." Someone shouted loudly. "Though it's a bit early. We were planning on surprising you two." Shion said with a pout. "Darn." She shrugged either way. "Temari is cooking up something good in that kitchen of yours. Kankuro has been banned from the kitchen. But Kina is helping Temari, same with Hinata."

"Alrighty." Naruto said. "Shion, meet my mom." Shion jumped out of the carriage she was riding in and ran up to the two Uzumaki's.

"Hi, I'm Shion. It's nice to meet you, Ms. Uzumaki." She said brightly holding out a hand. "I'd like to be the first to welcome you here. Naruto didn't, so here I am doing it. The queen also sends her greetings, but is unable to meet with you at the moment."

"Call me Kushina." Kushina replied, shaking her hand. "And thank you for welcoming me here."

"Well, I arranged for a carriage today. Come on. Everyone's waiting at your house." She explained, opening the door and letting them get in first. She knocked on the front of the carriage when they were in and it started moving slowly. It picked up speed and soon enough they arrived at the house.

Naruto stepped out and helped Shion and his mom out. "Well, here we are. Let's go meet everyone." He said enthusiastically. He grabbed both of their bags and opened the door. Everyone looked up as they entered. Gaara was sitting at the table, drinking a cup of tea calmly. He cast a surprised look their way.

"Everyone, they're here!" He called up. There was a rush of footsteps and the room was suddenly crowded with people. Temari, Hinata, and Kina came out of the kitchen. Kina ran up to Naruto and kissed him on the lips. Kankuro came from downstairs, stowing some strings in a pocket.

"Mom, let me introduce everyone. This lovely girl is my girlfriend, Kina." He said. He pointed to Gaara. "And that's Gaara. The blonde is Temari, and the big guy is Kankuro. Those three are my siblings. And the other girl is my childhood friend Hinata Hyuuga." Everyone bowed as they were mentioned. "Guys, this is my mom, Kushina Uzumaki."

"It's nice to meet you all." She said in return. "Please, just call me Kushina. After all you have done for my only child, I have much to repay."

"No repayment necessary." Temari assured. "Naruto, after all, is our brother. Would you like to eat some dinner? We girls fixed it, so it's not only edible but good." She assured. "The boys can't cook to save their own life's. If it was left up to Naruto, he would only eat ramen." Temari laughed and ushered everyone to the table.

"Hey, Naruto." Gaara said. "Did you find some of the answers you were looking for?" Gaara asked. "And a room has been prepared for her as well."

"I found those answers and more." Naruto replied. "I'm glad that she is still alive. She chose to live with me. Come to think of it, Yukie wanted to meet her. Tomorrow, I should bring her to meet Yukie." He smiled. "But I want to make sure she rests first."

"Naruto, Gaara, would you come on?!" Kankuro called from the kitchen. "How are we supposed to celebrate Naruto and Kushina's good fortune if Naruto is not here with us?" He demanded.

Naruto and Gaara joined the others. Akatsuki was only in the back of their minds. For now, they were content with just this. Akatsuki definitely worried them, but that would come later.


	22. Bad News Over Pancakes With the Queen

Sorry, had writer's block until now. But it's finally gone, so I can update again. Note: I don't think I said where Kina was staying. She'll be living with Matsuri and Hinata. Also, Yugito fans, please don't kill me.

Chapter 22

Kushina rose early the next morning, which was more out of habit than desire. She had slept really good the previous night too. Grabbing some clothes out of her still unpacked bag, she crept to the bathroom quietly, not wanting to wake anyone in the house. The sun was just now starting to rise outside. After a quick shower, she got dressed and went back to her room. Finding her brush from her bag, she brushed her hair quickly, wishing that she hadn't had the need to cut it so short. She slipped on some socks and downstairs to the kitchen.

"Ms. Uzumaki, you're up already?" A masculine voice asked. Kushina looked to the table and found Gaara sitting there, still in the clothes he had worn the previous day.

"Yes, I slept well last night. But what about you? Did you not go to sleep at all?" She asked, sitting down at the table across from him.

"I can only sleep a few hours at a time." He told her. "You do know what Naruto has in him, right?" He inquired. Kushina nodded. "I am like him. But while his drawback is it shortens his life if he uses too much of the kyuubi's power, mine is that I can't really sleep. Otherwise Shukaku will take over my body."

"Then how do you manage to stay awake?" Kushina asked, curious.

"I've learned to get light sleep when I can. It was hard when I was younger, but it works fine now." He said. "And I'm sorry that no food has been prepared yet. It's just that the boys aren't allowed to cook in the kitchen. Temari would kill me if she found that I nearly blew up the kitchen again."

"Again?" Gaara nodded humoressly at her shocked question. "Well, I know how to cook. Naruto's father was always hungry, so I always made him a variety of food. I'll cook this morning, as my thanks for letting me stay here." Kushina got up, ignoring Gaara's protests that she didn't have to. She looked in the kitchen and found some pancake batter.

"Something smells good." Someone said as they came downstairs. Kushina looked up to see Temari approaching them. "Good. It's not Gaara cooking. But I could have easily done that." She said.

"No. I like to cook. Actually, I want to do this especially for Naruto. If he's anything like his father, he'll love pancakes. Especially my blueberry pancakes." Kushina said. "Besides, after how long I've been gone, I need to try and make up for lost time." She said sadly.

"That wasn't anything you could help." Temari answered. "Besides, it's the thought that counts to us around here. But if you really want to, go ahead. That really is smelling good." Temari poured herself some juice from the fridge and sat down. "All we need now is Naruto. But I wouldn't be surprised if he slept late today." Gaara laughed at this.

"Hey, why sleep? Even if mom wasn't here, we still have another big problem to discuss. What will we be doing about Akatsuki? We jinchuuriki won't stand for this place being damaged and people being hurt or killed because of us." Naruto said as he also came downstairs, wearing his usual black and orange boxers with a plain white shirt.

"Someone is after you and Gaara because of what you have in you?" Kushina asked from the kitchen. Naruto nodded.

"And Kina as well. She has one as well, one of the reasons we are so good for each other. We had similar lifes before we came here, so we understand each other really as well." He grinned and then yawned. "Seriously, are we working with Yukie and the council on a plan of defense? The genin should not be allowed to even consider fighting in this. They would be better to act as guards for the civilians should they need to be evuacated."

"We could always issue a former challenge and draw them away from the city." Gaara mused aloud. "It worked last time. Though we need to avoid the generator at all costs and try not to damage the area further. It's still recovering from the fight we had there a few years ago." Gaara was silent as he remembered that fight. "It really did take some damage, from both sides who participated in the conflict."

Kushina eye's must have reflected her curiosity about this, as Kankuro explained as he came down the stairs, having overheard the last few minutes of their conversation. "Kina lost control of her demon. She was only ten at the time. We had the help of two others, both jinchuuriki's who were trying to save her, not wanting to destroy her like everyone else was. We succeeded in returning to normal. But then Naruto, who also was not very much older than Kina and even worse at controlling his, also lost control and we had to get him back to normal."

"Oh dear. Was everyone okay?" Kushina asked as she finished cooking and brought it to the table.

"Well," Temari said nervously, "it all ended well. Kina, who had passed out after returning to normal, woke up and stunned Naruto senseless with a very powerful screech. Though, by that time, I had attacked him in order to try and get him to stay still and he was already severely burned by the fox's chakra." Naruto grimaced at that thought.

"But, everything was fine in the end." Naruto said quickly. Someone knocked at the door and Naruto ran to get it. He came back in a minute later, followed by Yukie. "Mom, this is Yukie, queen of this land, also a famous actress. Yukie, this is my mom, Kushina." Kushina and Yukie shook hands.

"It's nice to finally meet you in person." Yukie said sweetly. "And you don't need to be formal with me. My friends call me Yukie." Yukie sniffed the air. "Blueberry pancakes? Mhhh. I love those. But I don't know anyone who can even make halfway decent ones."

"Then would you like to have some? I wasn't sure on how many to make, so I made a lot." Kushina invited. "They need to get eaten somehow."

"If it's no bother." Yukie said. Temari pulled a chair from the living room into the kitchen and made room at the table. "So, what are you planning on doing now? You're free. And I don't think you're the type to just be content with sitting around doing nothing, if your son is anything to judge by."

"For now, I just want to get my old strength back. So some training first. And after that, hopefully, I'll be able to get employment as a ninja here." Kushina said, passing around some syrup and butter. "After all, I spent my whole life training as a ninja. Why stop now?" Kushina laughed.

"Speaking of ninjas." Yukie said suddenly. She pulled out a scroll from her jacket and handed it to Naruto. "This arrived for you. I believe that is from Kira." Confused Naruto read the scroll, the confusion turning to sadness, pain, and anger. "What is it?" Yukie asked gently.

"Yugito is dead." He stammered out. Everyone except Kushina knew who she was. Gaara dropped his fork and knife in shock. "Akatsuki went after her and succeeded in removing the demon from her. It killed her in the process." Naruto slammed the scroll down on the table. His head went to his arm and they could hear his sobs. "What do they want with us?! Why does everyone automatically pick on us? It's not as if we chose this life." Kushina got up and hugged her son. "And why did Yugito die just because of them removing her demon? It's not fair!"

"Shhh." Kushina soothed, making Naruto freeze. "There has never been a demon removal without the death of the host. Your father wanted to know why and he did find out. From the moment of sealing, a symbiotic relationship is created. The demon can't survive without the host. Obviously because it depends on the host's body or else it dies. But also likewise, the host's body bonds to the demon. If the demon is removed, the host dies. It's like taking the heart out of a human being while still alive. We can't survive without a heart."

Naruto freed himself from the hug, a determined look in his puffy eyes. "Akatsuki will not get away with this!" Naruto swore. "Believe it!"

Chat Zone:

Naruto: -laughing at Jasaiya- All those mistakes you found in your previous chapters while working on this one!

Jasaiya: Now who's mean?! I didn't do anything to you **_this _**chapter.

Naruto: 0.0

Yugito: -angry- Yeah, you killed me! And I didn't even get mentioned. I could have at least died in an epic battle!

Jasaiya: -shrugs- I still want to do another character death.

Everyone: WHA?!

Kina: -crying- How many more people have to die?! I already lost Yugito, who was like a sister to me.

Yugito: -annoyed- Why are you talking about me in past tense?! I'm still here!

Jasaiya: -exorcises Yugito's vengeful spirit-

Yugito: WTF? Since when were you a freakin exorcist?! -fades away-

Kina: No, Yugito! -cries-

Naruto: -glares at Jasaiya-

Jasaiya: What? She was asking for this! Techincally, she was already dead.


	23. Health Problems

Kina was crying still. Two hours ago, she had gotten the word of Yugito's death at the hands of Akatsuki. And now she was going to Naruto's house, wanting to see how he was doing. Yugito and Kira had reguraly kept in contact after they had left when they had come to this land to return her to normal.

But by the time she got there, Naruto was already gone, doing some furious training in order to calm himself down. He had already been gone for over an hour. Kushina had gone with him to catch up on her training as well. "Also probably to make sure he doesn't hurt himself. Naruto is really hurting right now. He asked me to tell you that he's sorry he's not here though." Temari said thoughtfully. Gaara was up in his room, in a very morose mood at the moment. "Gaara is up in his room as well. Yugito, Naruto, and Gaara were really close."

"Yeah, I know. We all had a special bond, especially Yugito with us, as she is a fellow jinchuuriki. I don't understand what that group wants with the demons though. If they had just wanted to destroy them, they could have done this publicly and gotten respect and credit for it, after all, we're only _monsters_. But no, they don't do this either. They have a bigger agenda." Kina said, confused. "I've also heard that every member of that group is a missing nin from some shinobi village. The leader's name isn't even known, let alone anything else about him." Kina complained.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Naruto, you're pushing yourself too fast!" Kushina yelled, concerned over her son's health. For the past forty five minutes he had put all of his strength into his training, recklessly endangering his own safety. At first, he had slowly built up to the high levels of the training. Then suddenly, she had seen a flash of red in his eyes and he had started going berserk. That was the only way she could put it. He had a wild and hurt look in his eyes, which were now red and slitted. "Naruto, relax and calm down." Kushina ordered sternly. Naruto ignored her and continued to demolish the training area, refusing to focus on anything else other than his training. And then he started to cry, soft, slow tears as he pounded the training dummies relentlessly.

"Naruto, remember that you aren't alone." Kushina said. "We all feel a similar feeling right now." She reached out to touch his arm and he jerked back.

"No, I should have known! I should have been able to do something!" His fist trembled as he continued to mercilessly punch the dummy. "I should have been there! What kind of friend am I?! What kind of friend allows this to happen?" A line of sand shot around his wrists and stopped him from further attacking the training dummy. Naruto and Kushina followed the sand with their eyes, knowing who was controlling it.

"Naruto, stop." Gaara said softly. Naruto's entire body trembled as he half heartedly tried to fight his way out of the grip of the sand. The sand held firm. "You're only hurting yourself this way." Gaara explained as he walked forward, shortening the connection of sand that held the two jinchuuriki's togethor. "Not only that, you're making others worry about you. Now, please, calm down. Look at your condition right now, and the condition of that around you."

Naruto's intense red slitted eyes became not so intensely red and went back to the normal shape of human eyes. He saw his hands, which were covered in blood from his intense rage just moments ago. He felt how ragged his breathing was, how his entire body burned from all his exertion of it. His eyes roamed the training area and saw that most of the training dummies were demolished, either in pieces or covered in huge holes. Holes the size of his fist. Blood was also splattered on them. It was _his _blood on them. He fell to his knees in shock.

"What did I just do?" He asked himself pathetically. "I'm no better than the Kyuubi like this." His eyes returned to their normal blue. Gaara released the sand on Naruto's wrists.

"You just let out some pent up emotions." Gaara explained gently. "But there are much healthier ways to do so. Don't hold your feelings in."

"But...Yugito...I should have been there. I should have tried to stop them and stop her dying." His chest now shook with the strength of his sobs. Kushina wrapped an arm around Naruto.

"That was out of your control." Kushina told him. "How were you supposed to know what was going on? If they would have known about it, the others would not have let her face this alone. But we had no way of knowing. Let's say we go home now? And treat your injuries?" Naruto barely managed a nod through his crying and forced his exhausted body up to his feet.

"Right." He croaked. Then Naruto collapsed where he stood.

"Naruto!" Kushina and Gaara said as they barely stopped him from hitting the ground. They got him on his back and looked at his face. It was pale and drawn.

"We need to take him to the hospital." Gaara said, pulling one of Naruto's arm around his neck, half pulling, half holding up Naruto's fallen form. Kushina grabbed the other half of him and they made their way to the hospital as fast as they could. They finally made it there and Naruto was taken from them and they waited in the lobby for the doctor to explain what had happened.

"I'll go tell the others what happened." Kushina said. "Stay here and wait for the doctor." Gaara nodded and Kushina ran out. A few minutes later, a doctor approached him.

"Your friend passed out from a combination of stress and high blood pressure." He told Gaara. "I would like to keep him overnight. But right now I need to know what was stressing him out so much."

"He just found out that his mother was alive and he pushed himself to get to her quickly. Not only that, he found out that someone may be after his life, and this morning he found that a good friend of ours died. Then he took the training too far and injured himself. Which is when he passed out after we finally got him calmed down." Gaara said.

"Well, he's sleeping now. He has an IV right now to help him rest and to lower his blood pressure. The best thing for him right now is rest. I would also like to start him on some medicine for his high blood pressure soon. I can tell he doesn't take a lot of stress well, which can have serious side effects on his health. People can go in to see him. Just let him rest." The doctor ordered. Gaara nodded.

Gaara when to the receptionist on duty as the doctor left. "Do you remember the woman I came in with?" He asked.

"Yes, I do. Would you like to me to tell her when she comes back where you are?" She asked sweetly.

"Yes, please. And thank you." Gaara said. "What room is my friend in?" The receptionist checked the computers.

"He's in room 306, on the third floor." She answered. "I'll be sure pass on your message." Gaara thanked her again and took the elevator up to the third floor, finding room 306 easily enough. He silently opened the door and sat down beside the bed.

Naruto was still sleeping, one arm under the covers, one out with an IV in it. He was still pale. But his face was no longer drawn. He was sleeping peacefully. Gaara sighed and waited for the others to arrive, making a mental note to get some flowers for the room. Naruto had one time written that he hated hospitals, that the plain whiteness of everything made him depressed.

Minutes passed and soon Temari, Kankuro, Shion, Kushina, and Kina walked in. Kina held a large vase of brightly colored flowers. "What's the problem?" Kina asked, taking a place next to Gaara.

"A combination of stress and high blood pressure." Gaara answered. "Everything that's happened as of late built up. And he developed high blood pressure from that. The doc wants to start him on some meds soon for that problem."

"High blood pressure runs in the family." Kushina mentioned. "On both sides too. I'm putting togethor a medical history for Naruto, so he knows what to expect from now on." They lapsed into silence, everyone glancing around at Naruto occasionly. Finally, visiting time was over. Someone told them one person could stay over night with him, but no more than that. Kushina was elected for this.

"We'll see you in the morning." Temari promised. "Hopefully he'll be awake by then."

"Same hope here." Kushina agreed, staring down at her sleeping child. The door shut quietly. "Son, I really hope you'll be okay."

Notes:

Remember the poll! Seriously, not many people seem to like some angst in theit stories. It's either no death right now or one of the genin's is gonna go bye bye. It's kinda close. And I really want another character death or two.


	24. Urg,When Can I Leave?

Naruto slept for the entire night. He woke up in the morning groggy and confused. He moved to sit up and felt a tugging on his arm. Looking down, he saw an IV going into one of his veins. Looking around, he confirmed his suspicion. He was in a hospital. And his mom was also there, dozing in a chair contently. He felt a headache coming on and groaned.

"What happened that ended up with me?" He asked aloud. He noticed that his hands were bandaged as well. Kushina stirred and opened her eyes. She smiled widely at seeing him awake.

"Thank goodness you're awake!" She exclaimed, sitting up with a yawn. "You passed because you let the stress build up and high blood pressure, which runs in the family, decided to show itself. The doctor wanted to check on you when you woke up. I'll go get him, hold on." She left the room in a hurry and returned a few minutes later with a blonde man in a white coat behind him.

"I'm Dr. Hikari." The man said, holding out a hand. Naruto shook it. "Now, I'm sure Ms. Uzumaki has already told you how you ended up here. I would like to start you on some medication for your high blood pressure, and that can get bad if you don't watch it. And ninja's lead very stressful lifes. I've carefully picked the one I would like you to start taking. So I know it will not affect your ninja abilities in any way that I can tell. You have my word on it."

"Okay." Naruto said. "I'll listen to that." He promised. "But when will I be able to leave? I really don't like hospitals." Naruto fiddled his thumbs.

The doctor smiled. "Many people share that testament. If nothing goes wrong, you'll be allowed to leave this evening. But now, I must go finish my rounds. Some more of your friends are outside the door waiting to see you though." He left the room. Temari, Kankuro, Shion, Kushina, and Kina all came in.

"Hey, guys." Naruto greeted sheepishly. "I'm sorry if I worried you all." Kina sat down on the bed besides him as everyone else found seats throughout the room.

"Just make sure it doesn't happen again." Kina said softly, letting her head drop onto his shoulder. "I was really worried when Kushina came back and told us about what happened."

"It won't." Naruto promised, kissing the top of her hair. "I'll be making sure to properly take care of myself from now on." Kina smiled brightly at this, her pale, tear stained face getting some color in it at last. "If everything goes well, I'll be able to leave this evening."

"Then don't get worked up again." Kina ordered playfully. "And when you come back, I'll cook a special dinner for us all, as a welcome back kind of thing for you." Naruto smiled and promised that he would take it easy.

"Naruto, I brought some of your clothes from home. That way you can come in wearing clean clothes." Gaara said, putting a folded stack of clothes on the end of his bed.

"Thanks." Naruto said. "So, how have you guys been?"

"We're getting along." Temari answered from her chair near the end of the bed. "Of course, once we're assured that our brother is fine, we'll be a lot better." She said tiredly. "But we all need some serious R&R soon. What do everyone say to going on vacation soon?"

"We'd have to work on that with our teams." Kankuro said. "After all, we should leave some experienced ninja here. You never know what will happen."

"Maybe not a vacation." Naruto said. "A free day, inviting our teams as well. That way we can know that we are available if needed but we can still relax."

"That's a good plan." Kushina said. "So who will handle what?"

"We can discuss that later." Shion said. "Besides, Kira is on his way here. He's taking some time off and wants to catch up with us. So he's currently traveling to see us." Shion didn't add that he was also on his way here to help deal with Akatsuki though, for obvious reasons. That could be mentioned later easily enough.

Naruto went home that evening. He had a months worth of prescription medicine with him, a pill that he was supposed to take daily. He was also supposed to watch what he ate, as some foods made high blood pressure worse.

* * *

Notes: I know, it's short and it's really bad! kicks self repeatedly See, I am punishing myself. Just like a house elf from Harry Potter who disobeyed an order. Grr. I don't know what's been up with my writing lately. Maybe all of my inspiration went into the oneshot I just did. Darn.


	25. All Hell Unleashed

-still kicking herself over the last chapter- Anyway, this needed to be updated soon. People really like another story, so I've been updating that one a lot. It looks like "How is should have been" will be on hiatus for awhile. Nothing has been coming up in my mind for that one. -pouts- For those who are reading that one, I'm sorry. But I can't help writers block. Oh, the poll is closed. One of the genin's is going bye bye. Also, I don't know how these two Akatsuki members really fight. I'm sorry if I got them wrong.

Chapter 25

"Hurry, don't worry about your possessions. For now just get to the shelters!" Similar cries were heard all over the place. Two foes had assailed the Land of Spring late into the night. "Please don't panic. Just stay calm." Many soldiers had spring into action, helping with the evacuations of the civilians. There was one main reason why they weren't fighting the enemies. One of them had created a ball of fire and had launched it at a building, setting it aflame. The loud cry of 'Ninja!' had gone up. And as the fireball went off, humanoid shapes were seen jumping from rooftop to rooftop.

"Pathetic." One of the attacking ninja said scornfully. This was a woman. She wore black robes with red clouds on them, her hair sporting a flower.

"That's not the point." Another said, wearing the same robes. Only this man had blue skin and what looked like gills on his cheeks. "We're just drawing them out. They won't let their precious home be damaged too much further."

"Get away from those people!" An angry voice yelled, charging in and placing himself between the enemies and the evacuating civilians. "Kushina, Hinata, escort the genins and help with the evacuations."

"Naruto, Kankuro will help with the evuacation as well." Temari said, taking a stand with Naruto. Naruto nodded, never taking his eyes off his enemies.

"We have no interest in those boring and weak people." The woman stated disdainfully. (Sorry, I don't know what Konan's personality is actually like. I'm sorry if I wrote it wrong!) "All we wanted was you. Give up your demons now."

Naruto fought to keep his temper under control. "And let you continue with your plotting and kill us in the process? No way." Naruto swore. "But we will fight you, just to prevent you from hurting these people and their home's further." Naruto cursed the fact that he was in town and had to be careful to not further damage the place. He had to get them away from the town. That way he could end this quickly and use his more powerful jutsu's. "And don't you think I forgot you, Kisame. I remember you."

"Aw, I'm touched." Kisame said mockingly. "I'm also sure you remember my sword. Samehada missed you as well." Kisame moved in for an attack. "Konan, go find the other two jinchuuriki and deal with them."

"Don't order me around!" Konan thundered. "Remember that Pain placed me in charge me during this little excursion." Konan took off in another direction as Naruto and Kisame had a short contest of strength. They ended up in a tie, both jumping away at the same time, Kisame holding his sword in front of him defensively.

"You've gotten stronger brat. You're no longer the weakling you were when we encountered you the first time. Let' see how much stronger." Kisame taunted. Naruto blocked the incoming sword attack with two kunai, them being crisscrossed.

"What did we do to you?" Naruto demanded as sparks flew as the two sources of metal clashed. "Why do you want what's inside us so badly? Isn't there a safer way to remove them?!"

"No, there ain't." Kisame grunted. "We need them to make the new ultimate kinkutsu. Also, Pain swears that all our dreams will come true when we make that kinjutsu. That's why we go after you guys. Only four remain that aren't with us. The nine tails, the six tails, the one tail, and the eight tails. Who's going to go next with us, huh?" Kisame grinned widely.

"We won't let you get away with this. Not only what you are doing to all us jinchuuriki, but also for taking a precious friend from us." Naruto promised, removing his hand from behind his back, revealing a fully formed rasengan, but had a reddish tint to it as well. Naruto grinned ferally as Kisame blocked it.

"That won't work kid! Samehada can't be beat with a simple rasengan." Kisame said proudly.

"Oh really?" Naruto asked smugly. "Take a closer look at your sword." Kisame humored Naruto and looked at Samehada. His expression went from triumpant to shocked. Samehada was cracking, a huge one going right down the center of the blade.

"Wha-what did you do to my sword?!" Kisame exclaimed angrily as the top half of the blade snapped off and hit the ground with a crash. "Samehada..." Samehada had always been with him, ever since he had become one of the Mist's Seven Swordsman. Samehada looked as if Kisame had not taken proper care of the blade for years, rusted and in terrible condition.

"The Kyuubi no Kitsune's chakra can be altered a bit to make it corrosive. It's really quite simple. In just a few moments your precious blade is broken beyond repair." Naruto explained. "And now for you." Naruto said threateningly, forming a rasengan in both hands and using his strongest taijutsu. He was suddenly in front of Kisame, slamming both rasengan's into the sharkman's chest.

"Wha?!" Kisame managed to get out before he couldn't speak any longer, coughing up a huge amount of blood as Kisame's heart and left lung gave under the pressure. Naruto's shirt was splayed with Kisame's blood as Kisame went down, a vacant look in his beady eyes.

"Naruto-sensei!" He heard someone call out frantically. Naruto spun around, recognizing Fiore's voice. "Help!" Naruto ran to the area where he heard the voice from and got in there in time to catch the wall from the nearby collapsing from hitting his team and the civilians.

"Hurry up and move." Naruto ordered. "This ain't exactly light!" Fiore, Takeru, and Tsuzuki ushered the civilians out of the way, scurrying out of the way. Naruto finally managed to heave the wall away from them, receiving a much needed power boost from the Kyuubi. "Get them to a shelter. It's getting bad out here." He gasped, slightly winded from holding up such a big wall, even if only for a short amount of time.

"Yes, sensei." Fiore responded. "We need to move faster. Please hurry to the nearest shelter." Everyone picked up the pace. "Please don't panic and stick together. Naruto sensed a flare of chakra nearby.

"Watch out!" Naruto yelled, pushing his student out of the way. A sword made of paper pierced his abdomen, making him spit up blood. "Get them out of here!" Fiore ushered the people away.

"Too bad they're associated with you." A disembodied voice said. "They'll be the ones to pay, not you." The sword fell apart into many pieces of paper, now forming a large number of shuriken and kunai.

"No! I'm the one you want!" Naruto begged desperately, knowing that his students stood no chance.

"Too bad." The woman said coldly, sending the paper weapons towards his students.

"NOOO!" Naruto yelled, unable to reach them in time. The kids had blocked the weapon's path, taking all the hits themselves so the civilians would be safe. Fiore had taken the worst of the hits. The other two had only been knocked unconscious, evident by their even breathing. But Fiore's eyes were blank, her body surrounded by a pool of her own blood, her chest still. "Fiore. You!" Naruto roared, turning towards Konan, his eyes going slitted and turning red. His incisor teeth grew into fangs, his fingernails becoming claws. His eyes becamed heavily outlined in black, a red chakra encasing his entire body, ending with a red chakra tail. "You'll pay for that!" He yelled, tears falling from his eyes.

Fiore only had time for two words before Naruto was in front of her and punching her so hard that she went flying, landing a good fifty feet away. "Oh crap!"


	26. Tears of Farewell

"This was NOT in the plan!" Conan protested as she got up slowly. She felt her ribs. One punch had broken two of her ribs. "Pain-sama won't like this. But I don't think that I can take on three jinchuuriki by myself, plus their allies." Her mind made up, she turned to flee, only to be blocked. Looking around she saw that she was surrounded by almost every ninja is the Land of Spring. Conan fell back to her knees in shock. She was so screwed.

**"You won't get away with what you and Kisame have done." **Naruto swore. **"This time, I'll be the one to order the surrender. Will you cooperate?" **Naruto was on all fours now, red chakra encasing his body.

Conan remained silent. "Naruto, I know an easier way to extract the information that we want." Kushina said. "May I?"

**"What is it?" **Naruto asked, his tears now having stopped falling, a cold, determined look in his eyes.

"A jutsu." Kushina answered. "I download all the information in her mind."

**"Do it." **Kushina nodded and walked up.

"I need someone to keep her still." Kushina said. Gaara's sand encased Conan's body, effectively halting her movement. "Thank you. Someone also needs make her keep looking straight ahead."

**"I'll do it." **Naruto said, standing on his legs and walking forward. He placed a hand on both sides of her head. **"Now be a good girl and look ahead. That, or I'll do to you what I did to Samehada." **Konan paled but still fought as she was forced to look ahead. Kushina made some handsigns and her eyes glowed.

"Noo!" Conan screamed as her eyes began to glow as well. Her screams filled the night. A few more minutes passed by and their eyes returned to normal. Kushina fell to her knees gasping. Konan ceased her struggling, her eyes dead looking now, her chest unmoving. Everyone stared as this happened.

"I also killed her as I left." Kushina told them. "Her brain ceased to function. Otherwise she would have just wrecked more havoc." Naruto released the dead woman's head as the sand released the body, it falling to the ground with a solemn finality. Naruto helped his mom up. "What's wrong?" She asked, seeing his puffy eyes. Naruto pointed to where his team lay.

**"Two of them are alive and are in no danger. But Fiore...Fiore..."** He couldn't finish the sentence.

"First, let me help you with something." Kushina said, making some more handsigns. Wind swirled around Naruto and his body returned to normal. Naruto sagged to the ground. "Someone help the two still alive. Also, someone put Fiore's body somewhere safe and private. Tell the civilians that it's safe to go home. If any of them need help, us ninja won't be sleeping anytime soon. But I must soon sit down and take notes on what I learned and do the jutsu to purge to the information from my mind. Anyone who is injured gather around we'll do what we can."

Naruto staggered up and picked up Takeru, bringing him to Kushina. Kina picked up Tsuzuki and did the same. Kushina healed the most serious wounds and turned to Naruto. Wordlessly, she lifted up his shirt and saw that his wound had already healed. She nodded to him and moved on to the next wounded. Naruto and the others split into two groups. One of the groups found the wounded, civilian and ninja alike, and the other started cleaning up the most serious damage.

"Naruto, Fiore's family is here. They want to take her body home and entomb her there." Kina said softly.

"Where are they?" He asked. Kina pointed. Naruto walked over.

"I'm sorry. I did everything I could to stop her, but I couldn't save her." Naruto said softly. "I don't know what else to say."

"How did she die?" The oldest male said.

"She died protecting the civilians." Naruto answered. "Konan threw kunai and shuriken, a very large cluster of them, towards the civilians. My team blocked the blows. Not a single civilian was hurt. The other two are still alive, but Fiore didn't make it."

"And what is a ninja supposed to do when it comes to work?" He asked.

"If they're on a mission, to do all in their power to complete it. But if defending their home village, they are to do all in their power to protect their home and the people there." Naruto told the man.

"My daughter died valiantly, doing what was right. Because of her, these people are not hurt or killed. Furthermore, she fulfilled what she wanted to do in the first place. She swore when she was little to do all in her power to protect this place. We will miss her of course. But she died doing the right thing and we hold only those who were attacking her responsible for her death." The man said solemnly.

"In my old village, there is a polished rock." Naruto said. "It's a monument. Everyone who died in the name of Konoha or on a mission has their name engraved on that stone. I'm going to talk to talk to the queen about setting up something similar here. If that happens, her name will be inscribed on the monument. Her sacrifice won't be forgotten, nor will anyone's elses. On that, I give my word."

"Thank you. We're a family of soldiers. We know that we can die at any moment. But that doesn't mean we don't mourn our dead. We will always remember her too. She enjoyed her life up until now. But we appreciate the fact that no one will forget her." He took off his robe and wrapped his daughter in it. "We'll send you word on when we hold the ceremony."

"Thank you." Naruto said, trying to keep his composure. Kushina walked forward as he walked away. "That was the hardest thing I ever had to do. I knew that eventually someone from my team would die on a mission. But I wasn't expecting it to be so soon."

"It's never easy." Kushina agreed. "But, we can learn from this. And as we recover, we can grow stronger. Fiore would want that as well."

"I know." Naruto said sillily. "And from now on, I'll remember that. As we move on with our lifes and as grow stronger, we will remember."

This is the end!

I had been planning on ending this story after the fight with Akatsuki ended. Sorry for the lame fight scene. I was hoping someone would help me, but that person never contacted me back. But this is the ending that felt right. Thanks for staying loyal. But I don't think my next story will be Naruto though. I need a change of pace.


End file.
